Ashes and Dust
by Boyue
Summary: Lee has found his dream home in Leaf Village Apartment. But his landlady is unscrupulous. His neighbors are strange. And his apartment? Well, let's say it's more of a nightmare than a dream! -Horror/Supernatural- COMPLETE!
1. 0

**Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Rated T for disturbing images not suitable for you!**

**Dedicated to ****Darkling221**** – A scary story for you for the holidays! =)**

**--**

**ASHES AND DUST**

**0**

Ever since he was a little child, Rock Lee had wanted to live in a place with a window seat. There was something alluring about being able to sit by the window and enjoy a cup of tea or read a classic novel under the golden glow of the sun. The orphanage he grew up in didn't have the luxury of window seats. It used to be an old Buddhist temple that was abandoned by the monks. A charity purchased and remodeled the interior, but kept the exterior structure for historical flavor. The windows and doors were covered in thin cream-colored paper, blocking out the view. For that reason, Lee didn't like spending time in his room, living in a chamber of darkness. He liked to be outside and did jumping jacks by the pond. He was able to, in between his exercise regime, to watch the colorful koi swimming contently in their abode. How wonderful it must be to be a fish, Lee would think, there was nothing to worry about! But Rock Lee didn't want to be a fish in a tiny pond. He wanted to be a whale in the ocean, to continue the fish metaphor. He wanted to leave the quiet orphanage behind, though not that he didn't like his home as it was truly a lovely place. Lee wanted more out of life. He wanted his home with the window seat and maple-colored floorboards. It would also be nice if there was a ceiling fan in the bedroom to save room and do battles against summer days.

At the age of eighteen, legally an adult, Lee was ready to move out of the orphanage and bid his caretakers and his fellow orphans good-bye. He had worked vigorously since he was thirteen and saved up a good sum of money, good enough to pay for half a year worth of rent and other expenses. Lee went to the city one day with one mission on his mind: Find his dream apartment. He could do without the floorboards or the ceiling fan, but he wasn't going to admit defeat until he found his window seat. He spent a full day apartment-hopping. It seemed architects nowadays didn't build apartments with window seats. One manager explained that it might be pretty but it was not room-efficient, and people only wanted efficiency in the fast-paced society. Lee was dejected. Was he never going to find his dream apartment with the window seat and the red heart-shaped cushions? He made one more visit to an apartment complex. The outside of said apartment was in need of a paint job. Lee could hardly tell if the walls were supposed to be white or beige. Cracks and water stains were visible. The front gate and fence were rusted. The coat of silver paint was chipping away to reveal the cheap metal underneath. Leaf Village Apartment, the weather-worn sign said. It was the perfect name considering that there were piles after piles of orange leave lazing the pathways. But nonetheless, Lee walked in and headed for the management office.

He opened the door, the knob cold under his touch, and stepped into a cozy if not a bit cramped office. A hidden radio played a static-filled pop song. There was only one ceiling light illuminating the room. Tall file cabinets made up the majority of furniture. Two leather chairs placed in front of a long wooden desk. Behind the desk sat a middle-aged woman with honey blonde hair, wearing a cotton green jacket and a low-cut grey V top. She was scrutinizing the horse racing section of the newspaper and jogging down notes on her desk calendar. She glanced up and folded the paper when she noticed Lee. She took off her glasses and put it aside. She put a welcoming smile on her wrinkle-free face.

"Hello there. I'm Tsunade," she said. She pushed her wheeled chair away from the desk and stood up. She walked around and extended a strong hand to shake Lee's. "How can I help you?"

"Do you happen to a vacant one-bedroom?" He shook the hand and showed a wide smile.

"Today's your lucky day," Tsunade said. She leaned over the desk and pulled open the drawer, retrieving a heavy set of keys. She pulled open the door and waited for Lee to follow her out. She walked across the central courtyard and went up the spiral stairs. "One bed, one bath, washer and dryer included, it's got basic cable TV and internet. It's on the third floor with a good view. Not trying to pressure you but it is a _really_ good deal."

Tsunade unlocked the gate that accessed to the third floor. They were in the east side of the complex. There were four floors; each of them had a gate at the ends of the hallway for security. Each floor had an average of sixteen units, eight on each side. The interior was in slightly better condition than the exterior. The walls were at least the same color. The doors were dark brown with a peephole and the unit number in gold letters. Tsunade led Lee down to the end of the enclosed hallway. A wall light flickered on and off opposite of the empty apartment. The gold number spelled out "302". Tsunade grumbled nervously about replacing the light bulb soon as she unlocked the door and invited Lee in.

A strong odor, like sweaty feet and rotten eggs, attacked Lee's nostril the second he stepped in. He scrunched his nose and eyed the window in the living room immediately. He nearly leaped in joy. There it was: the window seat! He kept a calm face as he very casually strolled to the window. It was padded with a fitted mattress and adorned with two torn cushions. He could easily replace them with newer and better looking fabric. He pulled open the checkered curtains and looked out the dirty window. He could see the branches of a tall oak tree in front of him. It wasn't in the way enough that it would block out the sun. He looked down and a smile crept up his face. He could see the playground perfectly from here. There was a set of swings, a see-saw, and a merry-go-around. Off to side, there was a sandbox with a half-destroyed sand castle. The playground equipment and the yard surrounding it could both use some maintenance.

"Here are the washer and dryer and the electric box," Tsunade said. She slid open the closet door by the door, revealing said appliances. "I wouldn't mess with the box unless you know what you're doing." She left the sliding door open and gave Lee a quick tour of the rest of the apartment. They rejoined in the living room. "The last tenant left his furniture so you can take them. I won't charge you extra. So what you think?"

What did he think? What did he think? Lee was so excited he could hardly contain himself. Not only did the apartment have his dream window seat, the bedroom also had a ceiling fan, and the unit came furnished. His wish had been granted. Today really was his lucky day. He couldn't help himself anymore. He jumped to Tsunade and pulled in her for a bear hug. "Oh thank you, thank you! I will take it. Where do I sign?"

"Woah, okay, okay, woah. Let go now." Tsunade had to pry Lee off her. "You don't wanna know the rent first?"

"I will pay anything for this lovely apartment!" Lee shouted. Once he put his personal touch to the place, it could quickly become his sweet home.

"You know what, kid," Tsunade said with an amused smile, "I like ya. I'm gonna give you your first month free. How about that?"

"That is wonderful!" Lee gave Tsunade another hug and danced around the kitchen. "Thank you, thank you, ma'am!"

They left the apartment and headed back to the management office to sign the lease. Lee was happy to know that the rent was affordable and reasonable for an apartment complex in such a run-down condition. He didn't mind. It was going to be a temporary location until he could build his dream house with a well-groom front lawn and a backyard full of poppies and pansies, and a small pond for koi.

"You'll love this place," Tsunade said.

Lee already did.

**--- --- ---**

Lee returned a few days later to Leaf Village with three boxes and two suitcases. It was all his possession in his eighteen years of life. As he had only so little belongings, he didn't want to bother his friends to help him move. Besides, he didn't want them to criticize his new home. It was in a bad condition, he knew that, and he would show it off when it was remodeled. Since his manager was kind enough to give him a month free, Lee was planning to use the extra money to buy some nice things for his apartment. He had already asked and he was allowed to repaint the interior as long as he didn't make a mess. He was thinking of an earth tone. One of the caretakers at the orphanage was very into the superstition. She told Lee that orange and green were his lucky colors. Lee figured it wouldn't hurt to believe her words; he liked orange and green anyways.

Lee spent a half the day cleaning and scrubbing and vacuuming and mopping every nook and corner of the apartment. He inhaled so many chemical that he thought he was a moose for a good minute. Once the rigorous sanitation was complete, Lee moved on to rearrange the furniture to his heart content. There wasn't much room to maneuver but with his new arrangement, the apartment looked more spacious. He then unpacked what little of his belongings and scattered them around. At seven o'clock at night, Lee finally took a breath, flopped on the couch, and gave himself a well-deserved break. He had moved in for ten hours and the place was starting to look more homely. The stuffy odor that plagued the apartment was masked by sprays of "Spring Flowers" air freshener and the opened windows. Tomorrow, he would go to the department stores and pick up kitchen appliances and utensils and more toiletries. In fact, there were many things that he needed to get. He would have to write out a list so he didn't forget. He was excited about them too. It would be a sign of his independence, a new chapter of his otherwise boring life. He made a cup noodle and sat in front of the television to enjoy his first dinner as a grown-up. With the sip of pork-flavored ramen, Rock Lee kissed his childhood good-bye.

Lee spent the rest of the night watching a soap opera marathon. The orphanage had a strict rule about what they could watch and they wouldn't. The headmaster didn't think soap opera was tasteful and forbid the children from watching it. Lee could understand why the old man didn't like it. Each episode was an over-the-top melodrama-filled exclaims of unrequited love from one character to another. There was usually a mean-spirited woman who sought to sabotage the relationship. It wasn't great writing, but it was unseeingly addictive! Before he knew it, it was almost midnight. He pried himself away from the television and took a quick shower. There was a busy day ahead of him, he wouldn't waste his energy tracking Yuki and Mei Mei's relationship and what would happen to their unborn love child.

He had previously purchased a new bed set so he didn't have to sleep in another person's sheets. He fluffed his pillow and snuggled in bed with a loud yawn. The mattress was a little soft for his taste. He figured he could spend the night trying it out, and if he didn't like it, he could set aside money to buy a firmer one. He didn't ask for many luxuries in life, but a good bed was a must. He set his alarm before he settled down and let sleep take over him. He was happy that the complex wasn't in the least noisy. He had spent the whole day in his apartment and he hadn't even heard a sound from his neighbors. He hoped they weren't all shy people. Lee would love to make friends with them. Neighbors should help each other out. Once everything was good to go, Lee would be sure to introduce himself around the complex.

Lee didn't usually dream. Or if he did, he didn't remember them the next day. But what was going on in his sleeping state was baffling. He was floating in the sky, or what seemed to be the sky because everything was very dark. He looked down and saw another him sitting in an ocean of sand with a toy shovel in his left hand and a bucket in his right. He saw himself digging up the sand. The sand-digging version of him soon abandoned the shovel and started digging with his bare hands. If he was trying to build a sandcastle, Lee figured he needed more practice. Lee saw a wave of sand rose from the side. It was like an avalanche coming to swallow him. He told the sand-digging version of himself to move away. He didn't know if the other him heeded the warning. His dream was cut short. He snapped his eyes open at a series of loud bangs.

It was coming from the living room. Lee was an alert person and never put anything off as nothing. He put on his slippers and carefully walked out to the living room. He kept his eyes out, in case someone had invaded his home. He flicked on the light. There was no one there fortunately. He listened, waiting for the bangs to sound again. He checked the windows; they were all closed and locked. He checked the cupboards. Maybe a hinge was loose, but they were all secured. He stood in the middle of the living room and looked around. The apartment was so still and quiet that he would hear his own breathing. It was probably one of his neighbors, Lee thought. As long as it didn't happen again, Lee would sleep well through the night. He checked the door just in case to make sure that it was locked. He didn't want to get robbed his first night in. He turned off the light and walked lazily back to his room.

BANG!

Lee spun around. It sounded louder than the previous ones. It came from the front door. Maybe someone needed help. He hurried and unlocked the door. He stepped halfway out, a little self-conscious of his pajama, and looked to the left, then to the right. No one needed help, that was for sure. He kept his eyes at the end of the hall closest to his unit. The rusted security gate was slowly creaking shut. It made a loud clank when it locked. There really had been someone here. Before the gate closed, Lee caught a glimpse of a young child running off. What kind of parents would let their children loose past midnight? Vigilante that he was, Lee put on his sandals and left the apartment. He unlocked the gate and could hear rapid footsteps running down the metal steps of the spiral stairs. He followed the noise down to the first floor. The central courtyard could use more lamp posts. Lee could hardly see past his own fingers. He saw the silhouette of the child heading toward the playground and went after them. He didn't think he was in the kind of neighborhood where children would roam free without adults.

He walked through the low open gate that separated the playground. The sole lamp post was hissing electricity. He didn't see the child anywhere. But Lee couldn't sleep easy if he didn't make sure that the child was safe. He circled through the small playground, looking for sign of the child. He stopped by the sandbox. The once half-destroyed castle had been rebuilt with footprints all around it. He couldn't tell how recent the footprints were and couldn't use it to determine if the child was here just now. He headed toward the unkempt yard and peeked through the tall bushes. It was too dark to see anything. Though he didn't want to, Lee gave up his search and returned to his apartment. He took off his sandals and put them neatly on the shoe rack. He closed and locked the door. Out of curiosity, he walked up to the window and looked down. A frown came over him when he saw someone in the sandbox. He was too far up and it was too dark below to tell if it was a kid or an adult, and if it was a boy or a girl. He opened the window and leaned out for a better look.

"Is it not a little too late to be playing with sand?" he said quietly to himself.

The person seemed to have heard him. He stood up and Lee could tell it was a young boy, about the age of eleven or twelve. He turned around and walked back toward the apartments, out of Lee's sight. Lee was hopeful that his words had gotten to the child. He closed the window and went back to his room. He climbed back into bed and heaved a sigh of relief. Bedtime was one of his favorite times of the day. He pulled his blanket up to cover his shoulder, feeling that the room had gotten chiller in the short ten minutes that he was gone. He checked the time. It was almost one o'clock in the morning. He really needed to get some sleep.

Lee closed his eyes and tried to drift back to sleep. He heard the floorboards creaked. He shifted and the bed frame groaned under his weight. Lee had to open his eyes again. He was sleeping in the middle of the full-size bed. His hands clutched the sheet beneath him. He swallowed hard and blinked twice. Something was different about his bedroom. He felt the comforter move slightly and a weight leaning down on his body. Then he felt a breath against his neck. Maybe it was just the air from the vent, he told himself. But he couldn't explain why he was feeling a pair of hands holding his shoulders.

**--- --- ---**

**Boyue's Note: Horror is really my love. This isn't scary yet, but it will soon. I hope. o.o;;**

**So um, the usual... tell me what you think about it! xDD**

**Until next time!**

**12.22.08**

**9:33 PM**


	2. 1

**Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Rated T for disturbing images not suitable for you!**

**--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---**

**ASHES AND DUST**

**-1**

Lee stared up at the ceiling fan. It was so quiet in the bedroom that he could almost hear the molecules in the air colliding with one another. He released his tight clutch on his bed sheet. He took a sharp breath, blinking to refresh his drying eyes. He heard a floorboard somewhere creaked. The pipes ran when his neighbor flushed the toilet. A police siren wailed through the night, followed by the similar siren of a fire truck. Lee pulled himself up and leaned against the wall behind him. He kept his arms down and by his side. He glanced around the sparsely furnished bedroom, looking at everything and nothing in particular. He reached and placed a hand on his shoulder. It felt warm, even though he was wearing a tank-top. He didn't try to explain to himself what he had felt a few minutes ago. No, he didn't even want to think about it because he didn't see the point of scaring himself. Whatever it was that he experienced had a logical explanation for it. Lee took a deep breath to calm his nerves. It was probably just a bad dream he had. Living alone by himself for the first time ever had to be unnerving to some degree. He lay back down and pulled the sheet all the way over his shoulders. He shut his eyes and started to count sheep in his head. At the eleventh sheep, Lee was able to relax a little. The pressure he had felt earlier, Lee concluded, was because the soft mattress was sucking him in. He could feel the sponge gripping his shoulders. He stopped counting sheep and laughed at himself for being silly and jumping to conclusions. He rolled on his side and slept soundlessly through the night.

He woke up at nine and left the apartment for breakfast. It was Saturday and he had a whole day worth of shopping to do. He stopped by the local bakery and got a sandwich to eat before he headed to the department stores to pick out the various things he needed. The event of the previous night was pushed to the back of his mind. He only cared about decorating and supplying his new home. Lee returned to Leaf Village four hours later with a full carload of new things. He might have gone a little over budget but he figured if he picked up an extra shift at the gym, he would be back on track. He had already taken five trips back and forth his apartment and he still wasn't close to taking all the merchandise out of the car. He quickly put the food he bought from the market into the fridge before he made yet another trip back to the car. As he exited his apartment, he saw a young woman struggling to carry a large open box as she tried to unlock her door. Gentleman that he was, Lee couldn't let a lady do the grunt work.

"Let me help," he said, taking the box over in his arms.

The young woman eased the box into his arms and uttered a shy thank-you. She took a look at Lee and put a soft smile on her glossy lips. She unlocked the door and Lee helped carried the box in and put it on the dining table in the kitchen. Since he wasn't officially invited in, Lee stepped back into the hallway after he dropped off the box. The young woman followed him out and stood by the door.

"T-thank you so much," she said with her eyes glue to the ground.

"No problem! I am Lee. I just moved in yesterday." He extended his hand.

"Um… Hello… Hinata Hyuuga," she said. She shook Lee's hand weakly. Her hand was soft like marshmallow.

"Hyuuga? Hmm, my best friend's last name is Hyuuga too. His name is Neji, do you know him?"

"N-Neji? O-Oh… H-He is my c-cousin."

"Really? Wow! What a small world we live in!" He chuckled amusingly. It always did amuse him how seemingly strangers were connected in ways they could not imagine.

"Um… Yeah… W-We don't see each other… a lot."

"I see. Well, I will stop bugging you now. If you need anything, I live in 302. Please stop by sometimes," Lee said with a bright smile. Hinata seemed like the perfect person to make friends with.

"3-302…?" She gasped and quickly dropped her head down. "Oh… Umm… M-maybe… Um… G-Good luck… Ah! I mean… Bye!"

"See you later!" Lee grinned and watched Hinata disappeared into her apartment. He wondered why she wished him luck. Probably good luck on moving in! Well, at the rate he was going, Lee was going to need a lot of luck. He walked back down to the car and continued the endless trips back and forth.

Aside from Hinata, Lee hadn't met another tenant in the Leaf Village. He figured the apartments would be livelier on the weekend. Back in the orphanage, they were always throwing parties on the weekend to liven up the otherwise gloomy atmosphere. He felt like the frog that had just moved out from the bottom of the well. People were definitely different out in the world. He took his mind off his neighbors and unpacked the many items he had. He put everything to where they were supposed to be. Lee was a meticulous person. He had trays that separated the knives from the spoons from the forks from the chopsticks. Cleaning supplies were kept to the left of the cabinet. Trash bags were on the right. Plates and bowls were stacked from biggest to smallest. Pantry was for pantry-related items only. His kitchen was looking to be more organized than a supermarket. He loaded the linen closet with new towels and extra bed sheets. He replaced the old brown shower curtain with a new white one with trees. He placed matching green rugs on the floor and put a small plant on top of the toilet tank. He nodded proudly at his work; the bathroom was looking not so gross.

The bedroom was his next redecoration destination. He didn't have the chance to buy a new mattress but he did purchase a few throw pillows. Some people would call Lee girly for decorating his room the way he did; but he didn't let it bother him. It was his sweet home and he liked to come home to a nicely furnished place instead of a pigsty. Besides, when he had company over, he wanted to impress them. Ladies liked clean and tidy men with good taste. Lee managed to make the room a little cozier by changing the curtains and adding two nightstands by the bed. It was starting to look more like a bedroom than a jail cell.

The living room wasn't in as much need of his distinctive touch as the rest of the apartment. He was able to find the heart-shaped cushions that he wanted and put them on the window seat. He heaved a dreamy sigh at the finished window seat. It was lovely, just lovely. He couldn't wait to find the time to stare out the window and have a nice cup of Earl Grey. He threw a green and brown stripes cover on the old couch. He rested on the couch and wiggled his feet. It was his home. He finally had a place to call home. Not that he didn't consider the orphanage his home, but how much could a person truly call a temple with a systematic lifestyle his home? He made a sandwich for lunch and ate it watching television. His soap opera marathon was still going and Lee couldn't resist catching up on what was happening. Two hours later, Lee finally pried himself away from the screen. There were still things that needed to get done. For instance, he needed to take out the trash. It wasn't until he was walking down the stairs that he realized he didn't know where the dumpsters were. He decided to look for it himself, towing a large black trash bag as he circled around the apartments. He knew the dumpsters were definitely not on the side of the playground; that limited down his choice to the north end or the west end of the complex. He headed north first and noticed that the north side of the complex had a different aura than his side. The air, for one, felt lighter and easier to breathe. Even the exterior of the building looked nicer than the east side. He walked to the back of the north building. Instead of finding the dumpster, he found the pool. He didn't know there was a pool here! It might be December already but it wasn't going to stop Lee from taking a dip. He loved swimming in general, even if the water was freezing. For now, he needed to dump the trash before he could think of swimming.

He walked back to the central courtyard. As he was crossing toward the west end, he saw Tsunade coming out of her office. If there was one person who would know where the dumpster was, it would be Tsuande.

"Hello, Tsunade!"

"Huh? Oh, it's you. How's it going?" She eyed the trash bag in his hand. She pointed behind her. "The dumpster's that way. I guess I didn't tell you that."

"Thank you, ma'am," Lee said.

"How are you liking the place?"

"It is very wonderful." He tried to smile but couldn't pull his muscles to work. "Uh, Tsunade, is there any family with children living here?"

"No… Why?" She walked toward Lee with a look of concern. She narrowed her eyes and asked in a hushed voice, "Did you see any?"

"I saw a boy playing in the sandbox last night. It was already midnight and he was alone."

"Oh…" Her eyes glanced away for a short second. "I hate kids, so I don't rent out apartments to families."

"So who do you think…"

"Probably just some punks sneaking in. If you aren't going to watch after your kids, you shouldn't have any. Am I right?" She shook her head in disapproval. "Well, have a good day now. See you around." She waved good-bye and walked toward the parking lot.

Lee couldn't shake the feeling that the boy he saw wasn't "just some punk". He walked to the dumpster behind the west end. Again, the building had a different---a better---atmosphere than the other two buildings. He couldn't explain how they were different; he just knew they were. He didn't know if it was a curiosity or if he was just a stupid person, Lee made his way to the playground. He kneeled in front of the sand castle. The castle was still standing but the footprints from last night were gone. He thought back to the strange dream he had. He heard a rustling behind him from the bushes. He turned his head and saw a flock of small birds coming out from one of the trees. Something must have frightened the birds; they were frantically flapping away from the apartments. He turned back to look at the sandcastle. He knitted his brows and pressed his lips firm. Grains of sand were spiraling away from the sand castle. Little by little, the sand castle dismantled in front of his eyes, leaving a sand tornado in its place. There wasn't a stir of wind in the playground. He watched the castle collapsed and the sand drizzled like rain. He stood up and hurried his way back to his apartment. He slammed the door and locked it before he flopped down on the couch. He caught his breaths, rubbing his temples in distress. He was over-thinking it. Sand naturally floated in midair; it was basic science! He palmed his face. He had had a long day so it would make sense that he was feeling tired. He leaned down and decided that he would take the day off tomorrow to ease his fatigue. The whole moving thing was taking its toll on him.

He took a quick shower and made himself dinner. He took his seat in front of the television and spent the night watching his soap opera. At about nine at night, he was drawn away from the show when he heard two people arguing in the hallway. He wouldn't sit by in case the argument got out of hands. He turned off the television and walked to the door. He could hear voices shouting but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He looked out the peephole but couldn't see the arguing people. He opened the door and stepped half way out. The hall was stifled with silence. Whoever had been arguing had vanished. Lee figured they might have gone back inside their apartment to continue the argument. He went back inside and watched another two hours worth of television before he decided to call it a night.

He climbed into bed, rolling over a few times before he could settle down. He waited for something to happen. The night was too calm. He smacked himself mentally. What was he expecting? There was nothing wrong with his apartment. Things might be a little strange every now and then, but his home was perfectly secured, safe, and sane. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. A need to use the bathroom woke him up. He lazily walked to the toilet and relieved himself. He didn't bother to turn on the light; he would be done before his eyes could adjust to the light. He yawned as he flushed the toilet. He washed his hands and took a look at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn't see very well in the dark but his eyes were drawn to the right side of the mirror, where he could see the reflection of the shower curtain. Maybe it was the lighting from outside, but Lee was pretty sure that there was a silhouette behind the curtain. The silhouette looked like a teenager. It stood unnaturally still. Lee kept his eyes on the mirror, playing a one-side staring contest. Someone couldn't have possibly broken into his bathroom without him knowing. The silhouette reached out its hand and clawed at the curtain. Lee turned around, holding his breath. The shadow was gone. He braved his heart and stalked toward the tub. He yanked open the curtain in one pull. It was empty as it should be. He glanced up at the small window and saw that it was left open. He climbed into the bed and got on his tiptoe to slide the window shut. As he left the bathroom, he made sure to leave the shower curtain open.

When Sunday morning came, Lee was finally starting to believe that there might be something a little off about his new home. He sat on the window seat and stared out with a hot cup of tea in his palms. Not even his dream window seat could erase the tension he was feeling. He glanced down every now and then at the playground underneath. There was no mysterious boy playing in the sandbox. He looked around his apartment. Even though he had redecorated it to his taste, there was still a stifling stench of the previous tenant. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know the last tenant was or why he left the place without his furniture. He should ask Tsunade about it. He put the cup in the sink and headed out to the office. He could breathe a little better in the hallway than his own home.

"Stop it," a brown-haired man said down the hall. He was holding a grocery bag in his arms. A tall man with spiked-up grey hair poked him playfully. "Haha, stop," the brunette said as he struggled to open the door. He noticed Lee watching them. He greeted him with a warming smile. "Hi, are you the one who moved into 302?"

"Y-Yeah! That would be me," Lee found himself returning the same smile. He came over to the two older men and exchanged introductions. He noticed that each man had a scar on his face, but he didn't think it would be appropriate to ask how they received the mark. "It is a pleasure to meet you!"

"Same here," the brunette named Iruka said. "If you need anything, don't be shy and let us know."

"If you do not mind me asking, do you know anything about the last tenant?"

"Oh…" Iruka lowered his eyes. "He, um, died."

"D-Died?" If someone had died in the apartment, then it would certainly explain the weird things going on. Lee wasn't completely reluctant to believe in an afterlife.

"Don't worry! He didn't die in the apartment. He was…"

"Ran over by a car," the grey-haired Kakashi answered in an unmoving tone, like he had told the story many times already.

"He was so young." Iruka heaved a sigh.

"How horrible," Lee said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry." Iruka gave Lee a pat on the shoulder. "But I'm sure you'll make a lot of good memories here." He eyed Kakashi and smiled. "I know I did."

Even though they didn't say it, Lee could tell that they were a couple. He had never met a homosexual couple before. They weren't as bad as people made them out to be. They spoke a little longer about the apartments and their lives before they said good-bye. Now that he had found out more about the previous tenant, Lee didn't see the reason to bother Tsunade. He returned home and sat on the window again. He gazed out and saw nothing extraordinary about the playground. He didn't want to believe that there were beings from another world roaming his apartment. He hugged the heart cushion and closed his eyes. His friends would laugh at him if he told them there was a ghost living with him, especially Neji. Neji was always looking for ways to ridicule him. Lee thought maybe he was just spending too much time here. He should get out more often. Once the week started and his work took over, Lee was sure he wouldn't have time to think about silly spirits or poltergeists. Slowly, he wandered off to sleep, listening to the humming of the heater.

**--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---**

**Boyue's Note: KakaIru! Yay. Next chapter, we'll FINALLY have some ACTION! Rawr! So if you wanna read it, reviews! Or else, you'll wait forever. T-T**

**12.26.08**

**8:56 PM**


	3. 2

**Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Rated T for disturbing images not suitable for you!**

**--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---**

**ASHES AND DUST**

**- 2**

Monday meant it was time for Lee to go to work. Lee liked his job enough that he didn't hate going to work. After the strange events plaguing his new home, he was actually eager to go to work, though that didn't mean that he looked forward to it. He liked a good sweat; but he didn't like to clean up after other people's sweat, which was what he did at the "health club" owned by his friend's family. Occasionally, he would sub for one of the trainers who had to take a day off. Otherwise, he would go around the gym with towels and Windex, wiping the sweat off the machines after people who didn't remember to bring their own towels. The good thing about the job was that he had free membership and all the benefits as the other employees. He would quit eventually; he just needed to find a new job before he did. And still, it would be hard to quit. The manager had really taken a liking to him. Lee's shift lasted six hours today. He ran some errands after work and picked up some Chinese food before he headed home. The truth was he was trying to delay going back to the apartment as much as possible. What a weird thing for Lee to do. He had always been a home-oriented person, but now, he didn't even want to step ten feet within Leaf Village.

But he had to go home sometimes. An hour and a half after he got off work, Lee pulled into the parking lot. He had to be very careful with the car, seeing as how it wasn't his car. Neji had been kind enough to let him borrow one of his many, many cars. It was funny when Lee thought about it. Neji and he were at the opposite end of the social class. Neji came from a very honorable and wealthy family. Lee was an orphan. His thought wandered to his neighbor, Hinata. What was her story that she ended up living (presumably) by herself at a run-down apartment? He carried his dinner up and opened his door to a sight he didn't expect. Water was dripping from his ceiling. It was coming out of the ceiling lights, the fire alarm, and the two sprinklers in the kitchen and in the hallway. He stood at the door with a wide hole in his mouth. He put down the Chinese food and assessed the damages. Luckily, water was only coming out of the previously mentioned places, which meant that the majority of the apartment was untouched. He went into the bathroom. His new rugs were wet. He went into the bedroom. His new comforter had a dark pool in the middle, right below the ceiling fan. He pulled some pots and pans from the kitchen and located them under the water source. He checked the time: Tsunade should still be in her office if he was lucky.

He hurried into the management office. Tsunade was clutching a small radio with her hands and shouting for a horse to run faster. She was so into the horse race that she didn't notice Lee walking in and Lee was too polite to interrupt her. He had only known her for about a week, and already he knew that horse races were very important to his manager. Tsunade slammed the radio on the desk and put her head down. Her horse probably lost the race. She glanced up and sat straight when she finally realized that Lee was here.

"Hey you, you need something?" she asked, turning off the radio and putting it back into her drawer. "I'm leaving soon and so spit it out."

Lee ignored her rude attitude. "There seems to be a leak in my apartment."

"Yeah? I'll get a plumber for you in the morning," she said, standing up. She put her purse on the desk and packed up her things. "Is it the tub? I just had the damn thing fixed last month."

"No, it is the ceiling," Lee answered. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him, like he had just told a bad joke. "Water is dripping from my lights and the fire alarms. And the sprinklers too."

"Huh… That's weird." Tsunade sat down back. She tapped her nails against the desktop, thinking. She pushed her glasses up and said, "Probably a pipe is broken… I don't know anything about fixing leaks… I can try to turn off the water… That should stop the leak." She opened her purse and took out the master keys. "I'll be right back. I'm really sorry about this, you know."

"It is not your fault," Lee said with a weak smile. He walked Tsunade out of the office and accompanied her to the side of the east building. Tsunade checked the water pressure box even though she didn't really know what she was doing. Lee didn't know anything about piping either and couldn't offer any assistance. She turned the rusted valve to shut off the water. Lee took over for her when she shook her hands in pain.

"Arthritis," she said, "Drink your milk while you're young." Lee gave a nod and turned the valve all the way. Tsunade looked over his shoulder and said, "That should do the trick. Why don't we run on up to your apartment and see how it is?"

The water leak had indeed been stopped, but the damages had been done. There were little puddles littered around his place. He sighed, and here he had hoped today would be a normal day.

"Ouch, tough break," Tsunade said as she stepped on a wet spot. The carpet squished under her weight. "I'll get someone to take a look tomorrow. You take care now."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Lee emptied the pots and pans. He grabbed towels to suck out the water in the carpet. He wouldn't want the place to smell like mildew. The kitchen and the bathroom floors were the easiest to clean. His bed was the hardest. He only had one comforter and it was dripping wet. He was hoping that the thick fabric would've held in the water but he was wrong. It had soaked through his sheet to the mattress. He touched the mattress. Even that was wet. He pushed the towel against the springy padding; he felt like he was bouncing on a trampoline. He got as much water out as possible and resolved to laying a clean towel over the wet spot. At least he had enough towels. He put on new sheets and threw some blankets on the bed. He would have to turn up the heat to compensate for the lack of his trusty comforter. He put the pillows back in place. Just then, he heard a sputter. The ceiling fan was spinning. Well, it wasn't really spinning. It seemed to be struck and the motor was jerking left and right. Lee hoped against hope that the water hadn't short-circuited the wirings. Then he thought about it and remembered that he didn't turn on the fan, only the light. Now, Lee didn't know much about electric circuits but he knew that things usually didn't turn on by themselves. He stared up at the ceiling fan and watched its futile attempt to spin. He squirmed when something hit him in the eye. He squeezed his eyes shut at the initial discomfort. Then he blinked out the foreign object. He rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out what had hit him. He glanced up and saw that the fan was moving normally. No, normal wasn't the right word. The fan spun clockwise, but then it stopped halfway, jerked a little, and spun counter-clockwise. It moved like the tumbler in a washing machine. Left and right. Left and right. Left and right. He watched the eccentric moving pattern of the ceiling fan. In the midst of the whooshing of the blades, he heard a soft hissing. He kept his eyes wide, which was a bad move. Grains of sand seeped through the gap of the ceiling. It started out with only a few grains. Then it quickly became a waterfall – or a sandfall to be more accurate. The blades knocked the sand and sent them flying across the room. Lee covered his eyes as he suddenly found himself trapped in a cyclone of sand. Sand paraded around him, abrading his skin. Lee fell to his knees. He kept his eyes close as he crawled his way over to the door. He felt around, using his hands to guide him out of the bedroom. Once he was in the hallway, he opened his eyes and ran into the living room. He took a quick peep at the bedroom. The sand twirled in the air. As if it knew that Lee had escaped from its clutch, the sand slowly died down. The sand fell into a rough shape of a child. Lee gasped as the sand statue turned its faceless head at his direction. Though it did not have eyes, Lee knew that it was staring at him. The statue collapsed in a loud hiss. The sand vanished completely from the bedroom. Lee didn't stay to check out what happened. He pulled open the front door and ran out.

His first instinct was to go next door to Hinata. He pressed the doorbell five or six times. No one answered the door. Lee leaned against the wall to calm his racing heart. Some of the things that had happened in the past days could be explained with logic. A sandstorm in his own bedroom wasn't one of them. He didn't need any more convincing to believe that something was indeed very wrong about his new home. He pressed the back of his head against the wall. There was no way he was going back inside. If he called Neji up, would his friend let him spend a night at his fancy mansion? Neji would probably ask a lot of questions. Lee wasn't about to explain that there might be a ghost in his apartment. Neji would only laugh at him. Besides, Lee wasn't sure if it was really a ghost. Maybe the apartment was just possessed. He broke his train of his thought when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He braced himself but relaxed when he saw that it was only Iruka. The brunette was playing with his scarf as he stepped into the hallway. It didn't take Iruka much time to notice Lee sitting on the ground.

"Lee? What are you doing?" Iruka came over with a look of concern. Seeing that Lee hadn't moved an inch, he kneeled down and placed a gentle hand on Lee's knee. "You look so pale. Did something happen?"

"I… I think…" How was he supposed to explain to Iruka what happened? He didn't even know if Iruka believed in the paranormal. Maybe his neighbor would call the police and had him sent to a mental institution. "Do… Do you believe in ghosts?"

"Ghosts?" Iruka repeated, taken back. He pressed his lips together and frowned a little. He squeezed Lee's knee and put on a soft smile. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Lee didn't want to make himself look crazy. He only explained the latest event that happened to him. Iruka listened, sitting on the ground next to him, with a worried look. When Lee was finished, Iruka was tugging a loose thread from his scarf absent-mindedly. He heaved his shoulders and put on a thinking face. He stood up after a moment and held out his hand for Lee.

"Let's go in and take a look," he said, pulling Lee up from the ground. They went back to the apartment with Iruka walking in first. He walked to the bedroom and Lee followed him behind. Iruka stood by the light switch and flicked it on and off a few times. He turned on the fan. It sputtered at first, and Lee winced. Then it moved smoothly and steadily. Lee took a leap back when a thin mist formed at the base of the fan. Iruka bravely walked under the fan. He got on his tip-toes and reached his hand up, waving his fingers through the mist. Lee waited by the door like a timid boy. Iruka checked his hand and looked up at the ceiling. "I think I know what it is…"

"What is it?"

"The leak must have loosened up the dust between the floors," Iruka said. He walked over to Lee and showed him his hand. There was a fine layer of grey dust on his palm. He clapped his hands and the dust scattered. "It's just concrete."

"It was sand," Lee said. He gestured around the room. "There was a sandstorm in here."

Iruka walked to the switch and turned the fan on to the highest setting. The blades whooshed in rapid circles. The concrete dust formed a cloud before it was knocked away by the movement of the blades. Lee stared up at the fan even though the dust made his eyes water. He appreciated Iruka trying to find a logical explanation for what happened. But he knew what he saw and what he felt. Iruka looked over at him and pulled his cheeks to a tender smile. He rubbed Lee's back in a soothing manner.

"It's alright," Iruka said, keeping his steady rub on Lee's back. "Old places can be kind of creepy. You'll get used to it."

"U-Uh… Yeah," was the only Lee could say.

"If you need anything, just come by, okay?"

Lee nodded and managed to show Iruka a smile. He walked Iruka over to his apartment before he returned to his own. He lingered by the bedroom door, glancing up at the ceiling fan. It couldn't just be concrete dust. It just couldn't. He grabbed his pillow and a blanket and hurried out of the room. There was no way he was sleeping in there tonight. He bunked on the couch and watched television until he uncomfortably fell asleep.

Before he went to work in the morning, Lee made a stop at the office. Tsunade was enjoying a cup of coffee and a cannoli for breakfast. She smiled up at Lee as he walked in. She sucked the cream off her finger and put down her sweet treat.

"Don't you worry. I've already called the plumber. He'll be here this afternoon," Tsunade said. Lee couldn't put a smile on his tired face. Sleeping on the couch wasn't in the least comfortable, especially when he was waking up every twenty minutes. His restless night must be apparent since Tsunade added, "Damn, what happened to you? You look like crap."

"Tsunade, I think… I am going to move out."

"Move out? Why?" Tsunade stared at him with surprise. She gestured Lee to take a seat. She pushed her coffee out of the way and put her hands on the desk. "You've only been here for… two, three days."

"I… I do not think this is the place for me."

"You said you love this place." Well, he did, until all the weird things started happening. "Is this about the leak? I know it sucks, but leaks happen. I mean, a lot of things are breaking down around here and I'm doing my best to handle them. Did some of your stuffs get messed up by the leak? I'm really sorry about that, but it's no reason to move out. You're gonna get leaks everywhere you go, I'm telling you."

"No, no, it is not about the leak," Lee said. Tsunade frowned and shrugged her hands. He heaved a quiet sigh. Was it a good idea to tell Tsunade that her apartments were haunted? She might not take it very well. "I do not think I am ready to live alone."

"Oh come on. I know what this is about," Tsunade said, throwing her hands up. She leaned across the desk on her elbows. "What are you, 19, 20 years old?"

"Eighteen."

"Exactly," she said, "of course it's scary to live by yourself. You've never been away from your parents." Lee didn't bother to mention that he didn't have parents. "You kids are growing so fast these days. It's tough. I was twenty-four before I moved out of my parents' house, and it was only because my old man kicked me out. You see what I'm talking about? You're still a kid! You get freaked out by the little things. You hear some noises so you think there's a ghost." Lee frowned; how did she jump to that conclusion "So I'll tell you what, here's what I did when I got my own place. I invited some of my girlfriends over. We had a sleepover, watched some television, had a girl-talk, and everything was fine. You just need to break into your new independence. You hear me?"

"Yes," Lee said, nodding his head. He had been wanting to invite his friends over. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Tsunade did have a point. Back in the orphanage, he was always surrounded by other children. He never had a moment of quiet. Now that no one was bothering him, maybe he wasn't adjusting so well to his newfound peace. "Thank you, ma'am. I feel better."

"Good, go get some of your friends and have a good time. But don't make too much noise, alright? I don't wanna have to shut your party down."

Lee thanked Tsunade again and headed off to work. During his lunch break, he gave his two closest friends a call to invite them over for the night. Part of him thought that it wasn't a good idea to involve his friends. The other part of him thought if he had someone with him, maybe he would be left alone. Either way, he wouldn't know what would happen until tonight. His day was a little more exciting since he subbed for an aerobics instructor. He was certified to teach but the health club wasn't hiring another instructor. Even though the manager loved him, he couldn't pull strings to hire Lee. Nonetheless, Lee went home feeling a little more relaxed after a good day of exercise.

He did some last minute cleaning up at the apartment. As he was vacuuming the carpet, the doorbell rang. He hurried to answer the door and was surprised to see that it wasn't whom he was expecting. Kakashi waved his hand at Lee with a smile. "Yo," he said, "Iruka told me you were stressed out so we thought we'd invite you over for dinner."

"Wow," Lee said with a bright grin. "I would love to, but I am expecting company."

"Ah, too bad. Next time then," Kakashi said, waving good-bye. Lee watched the grey-haired man return home and smiled sheepishly to no one. He was actually invited over for dinner. How amazing was that! He resumed his vacuuming duty until the doorbell rang again. This time around, it was his friend, Tenten at the door. He opened the door to find an impatient Tenten standing with a backpack and a sleeping bag.

"What took you so long," she said as she strolled into the apartment. She scrunched her nose. "Oh geesh, Lee! What the heck is that smell? It's like… someone died here or something."

"Please do not say that," Lee said, closing the door. "Thank you for coming."

"Thanks for inviting me. Is Neji coming?" She put down her bags and walked around the apartment.

"He couldn't come."

"You mean he 'wouldn't' come." She picked up the air freshener and sprayed it all around her. "Whatever. We'll have more time to hang." She flopped down on the couch and opened her backpack. "I got something for you."

"You did not have to." Lee sat down next to her. Tenten took out a stuffed teddy bear with a button nose and wiggled its arms. Lee laughed and took the bear.

"His name is Mr. Bear. He's your roommate. Be nice to him, 'kay?"

"Well, nice to meet you, Mr. Bear," Lee chuckled, shaking the stuffed animal's paw. They shared a laugh and Lee put the bear in his room. They had a pizza for dinner and watched an action movie that Tenten brought over. Lee was having a very good time with his friend that he hardly remembered why he invited her over in the first place. Tsunade was right. The atmosphere was livening up by his company.

Tenten pulled the spoon out of her mouth and dropped it into the empty pint carton of her strawberry ice cream. Lee wondered how she could eat so much junk food and still managed to stay in shape. She stood up from the couch and threw the carton away, putting the spoon in the sink. "I'm gonna take a shower, 'kay?" Lee gave her a nod and Tenten disappeared into the bathroom with a change of clothes.

Lee kept the television on as he washed the dishes that they had used to eat dinner. It sure was nice to have Tenten around. She was a fireball of energy and positive attitude. They went to the same school since kindergarten and had been friends ever since. It was no secret in school that Tenten was not the girl to mess with. Sometimes, Lee didn't know what was funnier: the fact that Tenten treated him like a girl or that she acted like a boy. He laughed to himself remembering how Tenten forced him to wear a tutu one Halloween. Lee wore the tutu, but he didn't leave the house. Instead of going to a costume party as planned, they stayed at Tenten's house and watched a comedy and ate a lot of candies. He dried the dishes and put them in the dish washer. He sat back down on the couch to watch the television screen and waited for Tenten to finish her shower.

Lee glanced at the digital clock on the microwave. Worries set in. Tenten had been in the shower for more than half an hour. Not that he knew Tenten's shower habit, but she didn't seem the kind who took long showers. Lee waited for another few minutes, eying the bathroom door. He could still hear the water sloshing from the shower head. He walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Tenten? Are you alright?"

No answer. The water was still running.

"Tenten?" He knocked twice. He heard nothing but the water. He tried the knob, but it was locked. "Tenten? Answer me." He knocked again and when Tenten didn't answer, he knew something was wrong. He dashed to the kitchen and opened the drawer where he kept the spare keys. There were three keys. He took them all and tried them each. He unlocked the door and jumped a little when he saw the tub overfilling with water. The rugs that he had spent time drying were drenched again. But rugs were the last of his worries. Tenten was slumped over the tub with her face down in the water. Lee grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away. One look and he could tell that she wasn't breathing.

"Tenten!" Lee cried. He put Tenten on the floor and nervously – and shyly – pressed his hands against her exposed chest. He had learned first aid training in the gym and tried to resuscitate her. Tenten coughed and spit a mouthful of water out. Lee took a quick breath of relief. He rolled Tenten on her side, since she was still out of it. He wrapped a towel around her and turned off the faucet before he ran to call the emergency. He came back to carry her out of the bathroom. He found her loose night shirt in her bag and helped her into it. By then, Tenten was somewhat conscious. She glanced up groggily at Lee and mouthed something.

"What is it?" Lee leaned down and put his ear next to Tenten's mouth. Though she said it in a whisper, Lee heard his friend's message loud and clear.

"There is a girl in the bathtub," Tenten said before she lost consciousness again.

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**Boyue's Note: When I wake up in the morning and I see all the reviews that I've gotten, it really jumps start my day! So please keep them coming. Before I started writing this chapter, I was feeling very bleh and didn't really want to write. But once I started, I could not stop! I was feeling this chapter and I really like how it turned out. :does a happy dance:**

**The water from the ceiling thing actually happened in my apartment once. xDD~ It was weird. O.o**

**Keep reviewing! The more you review, the faster I write. Seriously!**

**Until next time!**

**12.27.08**


	4. 3

**Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Rated T for disturbing images not suitable for you!**

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**ASHES AND DUST**

**- 3**

Lee went with Tenten to the hospital but because he wasn't a family member, he wasn't allowed to stay with her. What a brutal regulation that was. Even though they had known each other all their lives, when Tenten was in danger, Lee was suddenly branded a stranger by people who didn't know one thing about her. He stayed in the waiting room and hoped that Tenten would regain consciousness and he would be allowed to see her. He knew that Tenten would be alright, so that wasn't what bothered him. What about the girl in the bathtub? What was Tenten talking about? Well, Lee had a good idea what she was talking about. He just wanted to make sure that he wasn't the only one losing his touch on reality. A nurse with a high ponytail came over to him. She tapped her foot rudely against the floor and clicked her pen against her clipboard.

"Visiting hours is over. You's have to leave," she said. She stared at Lee until Lee finally stood up from the plastic chair and walked his way out the exit. Lee turned his head to check if the nurse was still watching him. She was and she looked like she was about to come over and kick Lee out. Lee heaved a sigh and walked out of the hospital. He had come here with the ambulance, which meant he could either walk home or call a cab. Seeing as the hospital wasn't too far from Leaf Village, Lee buckled up and walked his way. Good thing he had grabbed a jacket before he left.

A lot of things went through his head in the thirty-minute walk home. They all revolved around what Tenten said. By now, he was ninety-nine percent sure that his apartment was haunted. Last time he checked, girls didn't appear out of nowhere in his bathtub. At least not in the way he wanted. He opened the door and flicked on the light. Nothing out of the ordinary in the living room. He took off his jacket, throwing it on the couch, and walked to the bathroom. The bathroom floor was still wet. The tub was still filled to the brim. He never noticed how dirty the water was. No, dirty would be an overstatement but the water wasn't clear. There was a fine layer of grey mineral deposit floating at the top. He stared at the tub of water, half-expecting something to jump out. Maybe the Loch Ness monster… but the water was stagnant. He reached his fingers in and stirred the water. The top layer of deposit moved only to reveal that the entire tub was filled with ash-colored water. Now he had to wonder if it was because of poor water quality or something else. He crossed his fingers that it was the former. He had to get rid of the water sooner or later.

Lee rolled up his sleeves and stuck his arm in the tub. He felt around for the stopper or the metal chain attached to the rubber. He carefully navigated his hand toward the front of the tub. His fingers touched the bottom, feeling the suctioned bath mat. He brushed into something… something soft and silky. Something like strings. Or hair. He pulled his hand out and looked at it. There was nothing. He peered into the water, but couldn't make out anything. He took a deep breath. He had to know for sure. He reached his hand in and returned to the same spot. His fingers coursed through a thick mat of strands that looped loosely around his digits. He didn't even dare to look. He kept his head up, staring at the bottle of shampoo. He moved a little to the left and his hand brushed against something smooth. He gulped and found himself quivering as his hand felt around. He had a good idea what he was touching. He felt the nostrils. He moved downward and touched the pruned skin on the lips. His hand was shaking hard; the water was vibrating. He moved upward and lingered over the eyes. He felt an ear. He kept moving until he found the rubber stopper he was looking for. He yanked it open. Water gurgled as it spiraled into the drain. Lee stayed back, using the sink counter to help him stand. He held his breath, waiting for the gallons of water to disappear. Any other time he would've felt like it was an environmental waste. Now, he wouldn't wait for the water to vanish. The mineral deposit thinned out. Only a few inches high of water remained. Lee took a step closer and peeped into the tub. Of course there would be nothing there. Something did catch his attention. He bent down and pulled a knot of hair out from the drain. He had black hair. Tenten had brown. When he moved in, he cleaned the tub thoroughly and removed a yarn-ball worth of white hair from the drain. So where did the mess of blonde hair come from? He threw it in the trashcan and walked out of the bathroom. He picked up his jacket and drove back to the hospital. He was going to crack if he stayed there for another minute.

Lee spent the night at the hospital, hiding out of sight of the pesky nurse from earlier. When morning came and it wasn't visiting hours yet, Lee went to work reluctantly. Fortunately, today was his half-day and he was able to return to the hospital by noon. Tenten was long awake when visiting hours finally started and Lee was "given permission" by the nurse to see her. They were both worn out by fatigue and shock. Tenten remembered clearly what happened that sent her to the hospital. Lee eyed her untied hair, like it was going to change colors suddenly. Tenten tugged at the woven blanket. Lee sat in the white chair. They were both quiet, listening to the chatter of the next patient over. Every now and then, their eyes would meet and Lee would look away with guilt. He had invited Tenten over despite knowing the possible danger. Tenten almost died in his apartment. How was he supposed to forgive himself? Maybe he should leave and deal with his own problem. He put his weight on his legs and was about to stand when Tenten finally spoke.

"We should talk to Ino," she said.

"Ino?" The name didn't ring a bell in Lee's head.

"You know…. Ino? That blonde bimbo from school? Didn't she always say she is a psychic?"

Blonde bimbo rang a bell. Not that Lee thought of her in that way because he respected all women. It was just that "bimbo" was equivalent to Ino at their old high school. He thought back and remembered briefly that Ino did indeed claim that she could read minds.

"She'll probably have something to say about your place. I think I still have her number somewhere…"

"I do not think it is a good idea to get more people involved," Lee said, eyes on the floor. He had already hurt Tenten. He didn't need to hurt an old classmate that he didn't even really know. They might have had a few classes together but they never spoke to each other out of their own will. "I can handle the problem myself."

"I know you like to act tough, Lee, but I don't think you can do this alone, 'kay? I'll help," Tenten said like they were only working on making dinner. They were talking about dealing with some sort of supernatural being, not playing "house". Lee furrowed his brows but Tenten shushed him. "Look, it's fine. I'm not scared and neither should you. It's your home, you should take back it!"

"Right," Lee said, sighing. Tenten was acting braver than he was. It was a bit embarrassing. He was supposed to the man here… but then again, Tenten usually made every male feel inferior around her. "Please do not tell Neji," he felt complied to say. Neji came off as the kind who even if a ghost was dancing in front of his eyes, he would shrug it off and call everyone else an idiot. Lee wished he could be intimidated by nothing like Neji.

Tenten laughed and nodded in agreement. "No problema."

Tenten left the hospital in the afternoon. She managed to convince Ino to come over and take a look at Lee's apartment. Lee didn't need a psychic to tell him that there was a ghost in his new home. What he wanted from Ino was some pieces of advice on what to do. There had to be some purification rituals that he could perform. Maybe he should hire an exorcist instead. They met Ino in the late afternoon outside Leaf Village. She was fifteen minutes late and explained that the lady who did her nails didn't do them right so she had her re-do one of her hands. Tenten made a crude comment that Ino didn't hear. They walked up to Lee's apartment with Lee filling her in on what had happened so far. Ino listened with a professional look on her face that somehow made Tenten chuckled. Lee opened the door and Ino strolled in.

"Oh my god," Ino said with a loud gasp.

"What? What is it?" Tenten and Lee waited by the doorway. Lee gripped the door frame with enough force to leave a crack. Tenten glanced left and right at the living room.

"Orange stripes pillows? Really, Lee? Are you, like, color-blinded or something?" Ino shook her head in disappointment. "And that drape is so not the right color."

"Ino, shut it and just do what you came here to do," Tenten said a little more rude than needed. Lee was at least relieved that Ino's outburst was only because of his supposedly mismatched pillows. He liked his pillows and he wasn't going to change for anyone. "Stop messing around. Is there something here or not?"

"Okay, okay, chill," Ino said. She paced her way through the living room and the kitchen. She would put her hands on the furniture and close her eyes every now and then. A few more times, she made a quiet comment about one of Lee's furniture and how it contrasted the carpet. She looked out the window and glanced at the surrounding. "Hmm..." she muttered but didn't say anything. She headed down the hallway and stopped outside the bathroom. To be more accurate, she didn't stop outside the bathroom. It was more like someone had tagged her in a game of freeze tag and she stopped walking abruptly to stay completely frozen outside the door.

"Ino?" Tenten and Lee exchanged a look of concern. They had been keeping a distance from her as she had instructed. Their energy would interfere with her reading of the supernatural energy… something along the line of that. "Ino, what's the matter?"

"Ahhhh!" Ino shrieked and collapsed on the floor. "Ahhhh! Ahhh!" She crawled backward on her butt until she hit Lee. She grabbed on to Lee, who held her in his arms. She was trembling like she was having a seizure. Lee wrapped his arms tighter around her and looked up at Tenten. Ino sniffled and clutched Lee's shirt. "T-There i-is some… something in there," she stuttered.

"Yeah, we know that already," Tenten said, rolling her eyes at Ino's distress. "_What_ is it? What does it want?"

"God, she…she is… so… angry!"

"What does it want?" Tenten urged, raising her voice.

"How the hell do I know what she wants? Why don't you ask her?" Ino snapped back. She broke out of Lee's arms and stood up with a loud groan. She sniffled and wiped her smeared eyeliner off. She turned to Lee, who was calmer than Tenten even though he was the tenant. "She's really mad about something… or at someone, I don't know for sure."

"I see. T-Thank you, Ino," Lee said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you are alright? You do not have to go on…"

"No, no, I-I'm fine. Let's finish up." Ino looked at the bedroom. She prepared herself with a deep breath. She stepped into the bedroom for no more than five seconds before she ran back out crying. She fell on her knees and sobbed in her hands. Lee came over and pulled her into a comforting hug. He eyed the bedroom. The atmosphere was unnaturally still, like he was looking at a photograph than the live room.

"What did you see?" Tenten asked.

"I-I do-don't know," Ino answered, hiccupping. She took a short glance at the bedroom and quickly buried her face in Lee's chest. "T-there is… a kid in there. He-he's… oh God, there's so much… pain… and anger… and… and… "

"And what?" Tenten kneeled in front of her. She didn't seem to care for Ino's distraught state.

"He's sad," Ino said, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "And lonely."

"Are you telling me that there are two ghosts in the apartment? One in the bathroom and one in the bedroom?"

"Y-yeah."

"Are you bullshitting us?" Tenten frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"N-No! Why the hell would I do that?" Ino rubbed her eyes carefully as to not ruin her mascara. "You know… you're a real bitch, Tenten, no wonder all the boys hated you."

Tenten was about to say something but decided against it when she saw Lee eying her. She rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh. Lee helped Ino off the floor and led her out to the living room. He suggested for her to sit but Ino had a better idea: she was getting the heck out of the place and she advised Lee to do the same.

"I'll ask my dad what he knows," Ino said at the door. "If he tells me anything, I'll give you a call. But you should go somewhere else for a while. It's really not a good idea to stay."

"Thank you so much for coming, Ino. I am very sorry about what happened," Lee said. Ino put on a weak smile and gave him a small hug before she went on her way. Tenten and he watched her walk down the stairs before they hesitantly went back inside the apartment.

"Pack your things," Tenten said, "you're staying over at my house."

Lee nodded and made his way to the bedroom. He moved at great speed to pack a few night worth of clothes. He thought about what Ino said and maybe he was thinking too much about it, but he was starting to feel an ache in his chest. It was the same ache he felt when his pet turtle JuJu died… a little sad and a lot of guilt. It died because Lee forgot to lock the cage and it escaped. Lee found it a few days later baked to perfection under the summer heat. It was his fault really. He should've taken better care of the turtle. Lee finished packing. He eyed Mr. Bear on top of his drawer. He decided to leave the teddy bear there. If what Ino said was true, he wanted his invisible roommate to have something to accompany him. He hurried out of the bedroom and walked alongside Tenten down to the car. On the way to Tenten's house, they didn't say a word to each other. The radio talked for them.

Lee spent two days at Tenten's house. Tenten still lived with her parents and though they had known Lee since he was a young boy, it didn't spare him from the embarrassment from Tenten's overbearing mother. She was very convinced that Lee and Tenten was a couple. She kept asking when they were going to get engaged and get married and give her two healthy grandchildren. Tenten reminded her mother over and over that she was only nineteen years old. Her mother's answer was that she was never too young to start thinking about her future with Lee. Lee only listened and smiled politely, humoring the mother. When the fun was over, Tenten and Lee sank back to thinking about the apartment.

"Just move out," Tenten said. "I'll help you pay for the termination fee."

"The manager has been really nice to me." Lee was the kind of person who couldn't just ditch someone. He grew attached to people and places very quickly and easily. Besides, he kept thinking, what was the odd that he could find another apartment for such low rent and his dream window seat? A place like Leaf Village wasn't always around the corner. "I would feel horrible leaving her…"

"What're you feeling bad about? She isn't your mom. And you lived there for what, three days? It's not like you have anything there." Tenten scoffed. She had always been tough on Lee, watching over him like a big sister, smacking some sense into his confused head. Sometimes, though, the truth hurt very much. "I'll look for a place with you, 'kay? In the meantime, you can crash here. My mom practically thinks you're her son-in-law anyways."

"I appreciate your help, but I cannot just leave," Lee said, which earned him a rolling of the eyes from Tenten. "I guess I should not be… but I am curious what happened to those people. My neighbors told me that the last tenant died in a car accident and…"

"Lee, you're not a ghost buster," Tenten interrupted, "You are not going to solve the mystery, 'kay? Let it go."

"I do not think I can." Lee kept his head low and breathed out of his mouth. He didn't know why he was feeling the way he did, but he really wanted to go back to his apartment. He felt like it was summoning him home. His apartment wanted him and he wanted it. He shuddered at the thought. He was thinking too hard. Tenten was right; he shouldn't even be attached to the place. It hadn't even been a week since he moved in.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Tenten asked, switching the subject. Lee nodded in agreement. Tenten hopped off her bed and looked through her DVD collection. Lee stayed on the bed, thinking about nothing in particular. His phone broke him out of his thoughts. The caller wasn't registered in his phone book and he didn't recognize the number.

"Hello, this is Rock Lee," he answered, stepping out of Tenten's room for privacy.

"Lee!" It was Tsunade and she sounded very pissed-off. "Where the hell are you? What the hell did you do?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Your apartment! What the hell did you do to it?! You don't think I got enough things on my plate that I have to deal with your shit?"

"W-Wait, I do not understand. What is wrong with the apartment?"

"Don't act like you don't know! You damn kids make me sick! Get your ass back here! I need to talk to you now," Tsunade said before she hung up. Lee could hear her slamming the phone down. He stared at his phone in confusion. When he left on Wednesday, the apartment was as normal as it could be. What could have possibly happened…? Given the history of the place, what _couldn't_ have possibly happened?

"Tenten, I need to go back," Lee said. Without waiting for Tenten, he walked out of the house and drove his way back to Leaf Village.

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**Boyue's Note: Ah, see! You review = I write. It's a happy bargain. :does a happy dance: Oh, yeah, um, I think this story will be less than 10 chapters, not counting the prologue? But it really depends on my pacing… o.o;;**

**Tenten is uber-brave! YAY! TENTEN!**

**Keep 'em reviews comin'. =)**

**12.28.08**

**6:34 PM**


	5. 4

**Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Rated T for disturbing images not suitable for you!**

**--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---**

**ASHES AND DUST**

**- 4**

Lee walked through the entrance gate of Leaf Village and headed for the management office right away. Even though it was after office hour, if Tsunade had demanded to see him, she would probably still be in her office. And he was right. He could see the light through the frosted window and hear the radio advertising a new restaurant. He braced himself for whatever horrible news Tsunade was going to bring him. He opened the door and stepped in. Tsunade stood up from her chair immediately. The corner of her lips turned and she scoffed at Lee with a mean glare. Lee felt like a little child who had been summoned to the principal's office.

"I am here," Lee said, even though that was obvious. "What happened?"

"Look, I'm not saying that you did it yourself but it's your apartment and you're responsible for it, do you hear me?" Tsunade walked to the door, opening it for both of them. They headed up the stairs with Tsunade taking the lead and lecturing Lee on what it meant to be a grown-up. "I know you're just a kid but when you sign the lease, you're telling me that you're mature enough to handle living by yourself. This isn't your mom's basement. You can't just make a mess and think someone else is gonna wipe your ass for you." Lee listened without making a comment. He wasn't even sure what happened yet but from Tsunade's tone, he correctly predicted that it was not good.

Lee walked in his apartment. His only reaction was a small gasp. No wonder Tsunade was mad. He was feeling some of her anger too. The four walls of his apartment were completely covered with graffiti. He was a little happy that they weren't gang names or vulgar words. Different sizes and shapes in bright red paint that looked suspiciously like something else decorated his once-white walls. There was only one word plastered all over his apartment: "Love". Love on the floor. Love on the walls. Love on the ceiling. Love. It looked like someone had a stencil and spray painted it everywhere. He checked his furniture; they weren't affected by the vandalism. He turned on his logic immediately. He could repaint the walls easily; he had wanted to actually. But it would be hell to get the paint out of the carpet. He kneeled down and ruffled his fingers through the red stain. The amount of paint it took to vandalize his apartment should have left a distinguishable chemical fume. But he didn't smell anything out of the ordinary. It still smelled like rotten eggs and sweaty feet.

"I did not do this," Lee said. He went up to the wall and ran his fingers over the paint. It was dry. Or, to be more precise, it looked like the graffiti was chiseled into the drywall. "It was not me. How could I have possibly done this myself? Why would I?"

"I don't care if it was you or your friends or some stupid ass punk down the street. All I care is that you clean this mess up! You got till Sunday."

"But it is Friday already!" Lee said. He didn't have the budget to hire painters to cover the mess. He was going to do it himself. He couldn't possibly do it in two days. He didn't even know anything about painting. "I understand that you are angry but it was not my fault! I will clean it up for sure but I will need more time."

"No, you got two days. You should count yourself lucky that I didn't call the cops. I came up to tell you that the plumber fixed the leak and what do I see? Your door wide open and this goddamn mess! I should sue you no-good son of a bitch for property damage," Tsunade said, scowling. She stuck two fingers up to reinforce her two-day deadline. She turned on her heels and walked out, slamming the door behind her. Lee shuddered at the loud bang. He hurried to the door and yanked it open. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the apartment had not magically locked him in. He looked out at the hallway and saw one of his neighbors walking up the stairs.

"Good evening, Hinata," Lee said, his voice tired and scared. Hinata made a quiet gasp and glanced up from the floor. She looked around her quickly, a little startled even. She put a forced smile and stopped outside her door, not bothering to come closer. Lee closed his door behind him. No need to scare his neighbor with his apartment's extreme make-over. He had a feeling that there were enough things on Hinata's plate.

"H-Hello," Hinata muttered, "Um… I-I haven't s-seen you in a-a while."

"I have been busy." It was a partial truth. He had been busy dealing with ghosts. "How have you been?"

"G-good…!" she said in a way that sounded like she was trying to convince herself that she had indeed been good.

"If it is not too forward of me to ask," Lee said, "have you noticed anything strange about my apartment?"

"S-strange?" Hinata bit her lips. She stared at her shoes. "N-no, I can't s-say that I have. Um… I did h-hear a n-noise last night but… it was probably… my imagination. Um… W-why? Did s-something happen?" She tilted her head inward, putting her hand over her lips that Lee noticed were trembling a little.

"No," he lied. He didn't want to make Hinata any more uncomfortable. "I was curious. I do not suppose I am used to living here yet."

"A-ah, it t-takes a w-while…" She trailed off and left her sentence hanging. She shifted her weight. She took a shy glance at Lee and quickly threw her eyes back on the ground. "It w-was nice s-seeing y-you. H-Have a good… night." She showed a more genuine smile and went inside her apartment.

"You too," Lee said after Hinata disappeared. He lingered in the hallway, staring at the light across his door that still flickered on and off. Tsunade said she was going to fix it, but knowing her, she was probably too occupied with the horse race or the dog race or whatever animal she could bet on. He hated that he was getting bitter toward the manager. If he was in her position, he would be awfully sore too about what happened. And Tsunade did seem the kind who had a lot going on that she didn't need to deal with vandalism on her property. At least the leak was gone; it meant she was doing _something _for her tenants. Lee huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to go back inside, but he wouldn't put it above Tsunade to actually sue him. He didn't want a mark on his record. Was property damage a criminal offense? He wasn't sure and he didn't want to risk finding out. He had two choices: face the ghosts or risk getting sued.

Really, it wasn't much of a choice. Any other person would have gladly chosen to be sued. But Rock Lee wasn't like any other person. He had a sense of justice and morality that did him more harm than good. He didn't want to get on the wrong side of the laws, even if the alternative was living in a haunted apartment. He was probably the only person who had never jaywalked once in his life. He knew he had made a foolish choice but it was one he was willing to live with. He would much rather die with a clean record than to explain why he was sued by his landlady.

"Lee, what the heck?" Tenten shouted through the hall gate. She rattled it like a mad woman but the lock wouldn't give in. "What are you, stupid? Get out of there!"

"I am not allowed to leave," Lee said. He regretted putting it that way; he made it sound like he was being kept hostage by the apartment, which was exactly what Tenten was thinking. He could see how weird out she was in her wide eyes. "I will call you in the morning."

"Lee! Have you lost your mind? Do you know what you're doing!?" She shook the gate. Its clank echoed down the hall that rocked Lee's ears. "Lee! Listen to me, 'kay! Listen, why-what are you talking about? You heard what Ino said! You can't stay here. Those things are dangerous."

"If they want to hurt me," Lee said, opening his door, "they would have done so already." It was the first thing that made any sense to him in the past few days. If the spirits were malicious, he should have already joined them in the other world. He didn't know much about the afterlife, but he had seen enough movies to know that if they wanted a person out, they would make it obvious. The hints that Lee had been getting weren't 'we are going to kill you', so he took the bold bet that he wasn't to drop dead overnight. "Good night, Tenten!" He waved with a weak grin. Tenten still rattled the gate like an angry caged gorilla. He walked into the apartment and closed the door. He took a deep breath and braced himself. He was most likely going to regret his decision on a later day.

He walked into the bedroom to find Mr. Bear waiting for him on his pillow. He distinctively remembered leaving it on top of his drawer. He didn't need to ask what moved it. He was more curious _who_. He picked up Mr. Bear and found something new about his stuffed roommate. There was a little heart carved over its chest, the place where its heart would normally be… if stuffed animals had a heart. He played with its arms, thinking about what he should do. He looked around him. The bright red "Love"s were rather intimidating and unnerving. He felt like he was trapped in a scribbled-up paper thrown in the trashcan by a frustrated writer. Or a ball of tissue that someone had just used to wipe his bloody nose. He almost laughed out loud at thoughts going through his mind. They were highly disturbing for someone as stable as Lee. He took a very long and deep breath, closing his eyes in the process. It was a relaxation technique that they taught down at the health club. Breathe in through the nose. Breathe out through the mouth. Relax. Relax. Ignore the creeping sensation. Lee peeped open his eyes. He gulped and squeezed Mr. Bear. Something was tickling the back of his neck in a playful manner that wasn't very fun for Lee. He blew air out of his mouth and did something he never – ever – would have ever thought he would do.

"Is there something I can do to help you?" He glanced around him, waiting for something – or someone – to answer him. He looked up at the ceiling fan. Ino said a child occupied the bedroom. Lee could guess that it was probably the same child he saw playing in the sandbox. He deduced that there were in fact no living children in Leaf Village, only dead ones. He shuddered as a chill traveled up his spine, like after he had just finished urinating. If he knew anything about supernatural phenomenon, he concluded that chills meant the curtain was rising. He didn't even realize how hard he was squeezing Mr. Bear until he felt his palms damped with sweat. Then he heard it. He didn't hear it loud and clear like it was right next to his ears, but he heard it alright. He put Mr. Bear back on the pillow and walked out of the bedroom. He walked to the front door and put a hand on the knob. He didn't dare to turn the knob yet. A part – the loud and logical part – was screaming at him, calling him names, and suggesting that he was going to die a horrible and disfiguring death. He put his eye over the peephole and squinted.

He always wondered why the glass was set in a fisheye view. If the peephole was designed so that he could see who was outside before letting them in, what good was seeing a distorted version of his visitors? There were just certain things in the world that baffled his mind. He glanced downward with one eye, closing the other so he wasn't staring at the wood door. He saw what he initially thought was a blob of red. It took him about two seconds before he acknowledged that he was looking at the top of someone's head. From the height of said person, he was either a child or a little person. Lee deduced that it was the former. The redhead child had his head down and his fists rubbing his eyes in a manner that suggested he was crying. Once he realized that the child was crying, Lee actually heard the crying. It was a little hard to explain how he was hearing it. It wasn't like he was hearing the crying through the door. The sound was echoing all around him, like the child was inside the apartment. Or at least his voice was. Lee couldn't see a lot of him because the child was too short for the peephole and his head was obscuring the rest of his body. Lee could make out that he was wearing a deep red one-piece pajama with the buttons at the front. If it weren't for the fact that the child was a ghost, Lee thought he looked kind of adorable in his onesie. He pushed away from the peephole. His hand turned the knob. He pulled open the door in unintentionally slow-motion. His whole body seemed to be slowing down. The first thing he saw was the flickering light across his door. The light was going to drive him mad one day, assuming his invisible roommates didn't do so. He lowered his eyes to about the right height level. He should've known that nothing would be waiting for him outside his door. He looked at the gates. Tenten was gone and no one was running through them.

He waited a few more seconds for the redhead child to rear his face. The hall was quiet except for someone's laughs down the hall. He tensed, thinking that it was the ghost, but it turned out it was only Iruka. The brunette came out of the apartment with Kakashi. They didn't seem to notice Lee looking at them and walked downstairs hand-in-hand. He wondered where they were going but remembered that it was about dinner time. The thought made his stomach grumble. He hadn't eaten anything since lunch at noon and it was only a small bacon salad. Not that he was really in the mood for food. Lee moved back inside after taking a few more glances at the hall. He thought maybe he would have enough time to eat something before something strange happened again. He didn't know if the ghosts were mischievous or if they had horrible timing. As soon as he pried his eyes away from the hall and closed the door, the walls were bleeding. Technically speaking, the walls weren't bleeding. The paint on the walls was. Or whatever the graffiti was drawn out of. All Lee knew was that the red words were coming alive. The words squiggled and blended with each other. They became shapeless splatters that travelled up and down from the floor to the ceiling to the wall back to the ceiling down to the floor again. They moved like frightened worms through the apartment. Lee watched a train of red paint sped down the hallway and into the bathroom while another train bulleted out from the bedroom. He pressed his back against the door. He should be more freaked out by the scene but maybe he was too hungry to think clearly. It reminded him of the laser show he saw in fifth grade at the science museum. Red spiraled into circles that morphed into ripples. Lee squirmed when an amoeba-shaped paint passed behind his head and walked over the fridge, eventually finding its way to the sink and disappearing down the drain. That was what happened to all of the graffiti eventually. They bled from the walls and found a way to escape. Most of it seeped through the window gap, going to somewhere Lee could only guess. He was pretty sure that if his downstairs neighbor looked out the window right now, they would think it was raining blood. His walls were soon clean and back to its original off-white color.

"Thank you," Lee said quietly. He just saved a lot of time and money and got rid of the possibility of getting sued. He figured he had been right about them. They weren't trying to harm him. He took a seat on the couch, hugging his orange stripes pillow. "What can I do for you? For both of you?" He kept an eye out around, looking for any sign of instruction. He wasn't sure how to communicate with spirits. He did think it required a game board of some sort with a magnifying glass. His apartment was quiet and the only answer he received was the soft humming of the air conditioner. "Um, let me know when you are ready. I would be glad to help."

He stood up and, with caution, fixed himself something to eat for dinner. He would like to think that he was at peace with his roommates. He didn't want to believe that he could choke to death in his sleep or that he could drown washing his face. He tried to pretend that everything was as it should be and when the ghosts wanted his help, they would contact him. He sat in front of the television with a bowl of canned chicken noodle soup. He reached for the remote and turned on the television. Instead of his beloved soap opera, Lee stared at static. His first reaction was that Tsunade had messed up the cable. He put down his bowl on the coffee table. He looked behind the TV to check that the cables were all connected and the power was plugged in. He sighed and wondered why he thought anything would be back to normal. He scooted back on the floor until he was sitting in front of the television. He remembered watching a movie once where a ghost came out of the television screen. He clasped his hands together and anticipated for their appearance. It was hypnotizing watching the grey shaking lines on the screen and the hissing didn't help. His mind was slowly going blank and he was forgetting why he was sitting in front of a messed-up television. He unclasped his hands and rubbed the back of his stiff neck. He didn't know ghosts liked to be fashionably late. He glanced at his soup and wondered if it would be rude to eat while he waited. He decided to be patient and suppressed his hunger for a few more minutes. When the microwave clock turned five minutes later and there was still nothing, Lee got up from the floor and ate his dinner. He left the television on; he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to turn it off anyways.

He finished his soup. He was still watching the screen. By now, the static noise was starting to get on his nerves. He decided to lower the volume but left it on. He picked up his bowl and spoon and washed them in the sink. He glanced back at the television a few times to make sure that it was still only white noise. He pulled open the dishwasher and put the bowl in. The spoon slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor. He bent his knees to pick it up; having learned that it was always important to use his knees and not his back when picking up an object, even if it was just a spoon. Crouching, Lee's eyes drew to the bottom of the stove. He never noticed that there was a gap between the stove and the floor. Well, he did, but he didn't notice how wide the gap was. He could see that it was home to many dust bunnies. Unfortunately, he would have to evict the bunnies. He grabbed a piece of paper towel and wet it. He wiped the gap and yucked at how much dirt was underneath the stove. He threw the towel away and grabbed another piece. Behind him, the static still dominated the screen. He got on his knees and peeped at the gap. He noticed that dust bunnies weren't the only thing under the stove. It was too dark for him to see exactly what it was. He squinted and could tell that it had what looked like legs. He assumed it was an action figure or a doll. He got down on the floor and reached his arm in take the doll out. A broom would be helpful for his situation. He scooted closer and his fingers brushed the plastic frame of the doll. He just needed to wrap his fingers about it and pull it out.

"How could you do this to me!? I loved you!"

Lee jumped, slamming his arm against the bottom of the stove in the process. He stared at the television, now playing his favorite soap opera. Mai gave Toru a good smack across the face and ran off screen sobbing. The volume was at full blast that it hurt his eardrums. He didn't need a hint to know that they were messing with his television. He huffed out of his nose. What nonsense went through his head that he thought he could actually coexist with ghosts? He couldn't live every second of his life on the edge. He had been the biggest idiot in the world thinking he should stay and help the poor souls out. He was leaving for good even if it would break Tsunade's heart! He stood up and stretched his back. The bending and the kneeling didn't do him good. He needed to turn off the television before he went deaf. He headed for the living room. Before his foot left the ground, he screamed and fell on his knees. He turned his head around. He quickened his breaths. He stared at the charred arm coming from beneath the stove. It tightened its grip on his ankle and tugged him. Lee kicked his leg and let out a loud scream. He scooted himself away and the arm retreated back to the gap. Lee swallowed hard. His heartbeats drowned out Toru's melodramatic plead for Mai to come back.

A pair of dark eyes glared at him. They glowed like fire in the dark gap and they did not look happy at all.

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**Boyue's Note: When I started writing this chapter, I was so frustrated that I almost cried. Then I thought I should throw my laptop across the room. Anyhow, not the most original chapter but I do what I can! I think this chapter has more of a humorous tone. La-di-da. Lee's finally going to figure something out about his little friends. If you don't know who the ghosts are by now, you haven't been paying enough attention. It's obvious. Really! O.o;;**

**And no, Lee is very far from "LOL ME HELP YOU" and the ghosts going "LOLYAY! THXBAI!" Oh no no, things are about to get very crappy for our dear Lee. Why? Because he is a dumb dumb. .__.**

**You know the drill. Give me reviews. Feed my ego. Lie to me. Make me feel good. I write better and faster.**

**12.30.08**

**2:15 AM**


	6. 5

**Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Rated T for disturbing images not suitable for you!**

**--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---**

**ASHES AND DUST**

**- 5**

Lee woke up lying on his back on the cold hard floor of his kitchen. He couldn't remember the last time he had fainted. It was probably in second grade when he suffered a heat stroke from running on the track too long. He rubbed his head, trying to get rid of the loud ringing in his ears. He sat up and looked around to him to figure out where he was. He was still in his apartment, though he wished he had woken up in a hospital instead. Lee didn't even like hospitals; he just wanted to get out of here. He stood up, using the table to support his weight, and checked the time. It was six in the morning. He had been knocked out for more than seven hours. He sat down on the chair to recall what happened last night. There was an arm under the stove and it touched him. He screamed and saw a pair of eyes. Then it was a series of blackouts and a boy saying something that Lee couldn't remember anymore. He glanced at the stove; it looked perfectly normal at the moment but he knew something dark lurked beneath it. It might be a little too early in the morning and he usually had enough courtesy not to make morning phone calls. But he figured it constituted as an emergency.

"Hello, Ino, I am sorry to wake you," Lee said. "You know how you said there were two ghosts in the apartment?"

"Yeah?" Ino responded a little groggy. She stifled a yawn and sniffled. "What about it?"

"I think you are wrong." Lee looked behind him at the stove. He noticed a burnt stain on the surface that he should probably wipe off once he had the chance. "I think there are three of them. I met another one last night. It is in the kitchen."

"Kitchen? Are you sure? I didn't feel anything when I was there," Ino said, sounding more awake now. "H-Hang on. I'm gonna ask my dad about it." Lee heard Ino shuffling out of bed and opening her door. He heard her knocking on a door and an older man's voice speaking too lowly for him to hear. He kept his eyes looking at the stove every now and then. The kitchen spirit was the first one that he had actually seen with his own eyes. He didn't need to be a psychic to know that it wasn't a good sign. "Lee? Hey, okay, my dad said that it's possible that they were dormant. It's like they were sleeping and," she paused and sighed loudly, "and I think we might have woke them up… at least for the last one."

"What does that mean?"

"Um, it can mean that… we are in big trouble. Ghosts are like volcanoes. They're fun to look at when they're inactive but once they wake up, they're not so fun anymore," Ino joked in a way that Lee didn't like. He heard Ino sigh again and he didn't like it either. "Let me think… Okay… When you moved in, you woke up one of them. And… Tenten stayed at your place? She probably woke up the second one… and well, I woke up the last one."

"Does it mean that anyone who comes into the apartment will essentially disturb them?" Lee asked. He wondered how long they had been haunting the apartment. He thought about the last tenant who died and if he had come into contact with the ghosts. Iruka and Kakashi said he was run over by a car. Did they have the power to drive a car over a person?

"I guess?" Ino chuckled nervously.

"Do you even know what you are saying?" Lee's tone rose with frustration. He didn't meant to be rude to Ino, but her lack of seriousness was not helping the situation.

"Look, the spirit world is a very crazy place with a lot of crazy rules that don't always make sense. And there are a lot of different kinds of ghosts out there. Some of them are really nice and some of them are really mean. I don't know how to deal with all of them. All I know is that as long as you stay away from your apartme--- Wait… You are there right now, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Oh my god, Lee." He definitely didn't like the shift in Ino's tone.

"What is it?" Lee asked. There was a brief silence from Ino. He almost thought the call had been disconnected if it weren't for the fact that he could hear Ino's weak breathing.

"You're going to die," she whispered. Then she hung up the phone.

Lee stared at his cell phone. He knew it wasn't a good idea to involve Ino. Unlike what Ino had predicted, Lee didn't plan to die in Leaf Village like his otherworldly roommates. He took a look at his apartment. He had tried to make peace but it was obvious that it wasn't peace they wanted. They didn't want his help and only wanted to hurt him, so there was officially no reason for him to remain here. He had loved the apartment before he moved in, but he knew he wasn't going to miss it one bit. He put on his shoes and opened the door. It was too early for Tsunade to be in her office. Even though the office hour sign said eight, he knew Tsunade didn't usually come in until nine. He would have to come back later to terminate his lease. He made sure to lock his front door before he walked toward the gate. There was a button on the security gate to unlock it. Lee pressed down on the switch and pushed the gate. It didn't open. He released the switch and pressed it again, pushing his weight against the iron bars. It was jammed shut. He told himself not to panic yet. He walked down to the other end of the hall and tried the other gate. He didn't need to push the switch to know that the gate wasn't going to open for him. It was locked with a chain that wasn't there before. A makeshift sign instructed, 'USE OTHER GATE'. How could he use the other gate if it didn't open for him! He was pretty sure that it was against the fire code to lock up an exit. But Tsunade wasn't the kind who cared for regulations. He couldn't think of any reason why she would lock up one of the gates.

He returned to the other end and tried it one more time. He managed to make the door move an inch before it made a screeching noise. He peeped through the bars and looked away guiltily when he realized that he had made it worse. He stared down the empty hall. He didn't think the gate was the work of the ghosts but it sure didn't help him feel more relaxed. He figured one of his neighbors would come out eventually and learn of their predicament. He would wait for them in the hallway instead of being in the apartment. He did notice that the ghosts didn't come out until night and it was morning, but Lee didn't want to risk it. He sat down by the jammed gate and yawned. Being unconscious didn't mean he had a good night sleep. He rubbed his eyes and blew air out of his mouth. He could probably take a nap. If someone found him, he would just explain that he was waiting for the gate to be unlocked. He pressed the back of his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Lee, Lee?" Iruka's voice woke Lee from his nap. Lee squinted his eyes to get a better image of who he was looking at. He softened a little when he saw that it was none other than Iruka, smiling down at him with his usual warmth. "I didn't know you like napping in the hall."

"I was trying to get outside," Lee said, pointing at the gate. He could tell from his position that it was still jammed. Iruka nodded his head in understanding. He, too, was trying to get out. "Has Tsunade shown up?"

"I called her, but she is actually out of town until Sunday night. She said she would get a locksmith to come over." Iruka reached out a hand. Lee blinked but smiled quickly and took the hand. Iruka pulled him up and they walked to his apartment. "Let's wait and see. We can call the fire department if things go bad."

"I hope it is not too forward of me, but I do not really feel like being alone," Lee said with a weak smile, "would it too much to ask if I come over for a while?" He made sure to use the cutest voice he could summon. Iruka seemed like the compassionate type, and Lee was right when the brunette grinned and invited Lee in. Lee couldn't believe that they lived in the same apartment complex. First and foremost, Iruka's apartment didn't smell like rotten food. Secondly, his walls were bright beige and his carpet was plush and soft. His furniture wasn't worn and passed down from a previous tenant. The overall atmosphere was completely different from Lee's apartment. There were plants occupied different spots of the place. There was life in Iruka's apartment. "Wow," Lee muttered as he took a seat by the breakfast table. The smell of freshly baked muffin filled the air. If there weren't three ghosts hanging out, Lee wondered if he could've transformed his apartment to such a celestial state. It was home here.

"So what's bugging you?" Iruka asked as he offered Lee a hot cup of milk and some chocolate muffins. Lee took them greedily, his stomach rumbling in hunger. "You don't want to go home. You think there is something wrong with your apartment?" He sipped his mug of coffee. Its aroma filled Lee's nostrils.

"I know this sounds crazy but please believe me," Lee said, putting down his muffin. "There are three ghosts haunting my apartment." He looked at Iruka with a serious face, as serious as someone could pull off talking about ghosts. Iruka pursued his lips, wrapping his fingers around his mug. "I have met them. One of them tried to grab me last night."

"T-that's terrible," was all Iruka managed to say after a long silence. He put down the mug and took a sharp breath. Lee could tell that he was a little bothered by the news. "So you really did have sand in your room?" he muttered to himself mostly. He kept his eyes in front of him, staring at the window. Lee didn't say a word and stole another bite of his muffin. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you before."

"Can you tell me more about the person who used to live there?" Lee said after he took a long gulp of his milk. He hadn't have milk in a long while and he suddenly felt like a kid again.

"Oh, sure. What was his name… Jiy… I think it was Jiraiya. He was a really nice old man, kind of a pervert though." Iruka looked away for a moment toward the direction of the bedroom. Lee didn't like the word 'pervert'. "Kakashi knew him better than I did. I don't think he had a family, but he was an old friend of Tsunade. I used to see them talking on the swings a lot. They seemed to get along really well."

"When he did pass away?"

"Oh, um, I think about three… four months ago. I only remembered it was a Sunday and I was on my way to the store. The car came out of nowhere and Jiraiya just didn't see it coming." Iruka dropped his head and sighed. He pushed a stray strand of hair out of his forehead and tried to smile at Lee. "I don't think I've heard him saying anything about the apartment being haunted."

"Do you know who lived there before him?"

"No, when Kakashi and I moved here, he'd already been here for a while," Iruka said, pushing the same strand of hair away again. "You can ask Kakashi more about him when he gets back. He's away on a business trip."

"T-Thank you. I really appreciate your help," Lee said. He smiled genuinely for the first time. He checked the time; it was going to be eight soon. He pushed himself away from the table and stood up. "I should not bother you anymore."

"No, no, stay! I'm bored without Kakashi around." Iruka waved for him to sit back down.

Lee obeyed and stayed for another hour before they went outside to see if the locksmith had came by. The jammed gate was left wide open with another makeshift sign that warned, 'don't close'. Iruka went to meet his friends as he was trying to earlier. Lee was about to leave when he saw Hinata coming out of her apartment with a picnic basket. She looked nervous as usual, if not a bit more. She didn't even see Lee until she almost bumped into him.

"A-aaahh! I-I am s-sorry, Lee, I-I didn't see you," Hinata said, her voice high like always. She held the basket with both hands. It looked heavy.

"Are you having a picnic?" Lee asked. He couldn't smell any food around them. Hinata looked confused for a moment then gasped when Lee pointed at the basket.

"O-oh, n-no. I-I am g-going to s-see a f-friend. I-I h-have to run. See you… around." She tried to step away but Lee edged over and blocked her way. Hinata moved back and put her hand over her lips. She looked frightened, like Lee was about to attack her.

"I need to ask you something," Lee said, taking a step back so Hinata didn't feel cornered. "Do you mind me telling what you know about Jiraiya?"

At the mention of Jiraiya, Hinata gasped loudly. She tried to hide it by looking away but it only made Lee more curious. She kept her eyes on the wall and crouched. "I-I don't… know…"

"Oh, you did not live here when he was still alive?"

"A-alive? Um… I… You should ask N-Naruto about it," Hinata stammered, biting her lip every now and then. "Here," she shoved the basket in Lee's hands, "b-bring h-him his food. H-he lives in 312." She jerked her head and rushed back inside her apartment.

"W-wait, Hinata!" Lee called after her and had the door slammed in his face. He checked the basket and saw that it really was food inside. He looked up at the unit number and followed his way down to 312, at the other end of the hall. He rang the doorbell but didn't hear the ringing. He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answewr. He heard the door unlocked with a loud click. It opened to reveal a spiritless blonde with tired eyes.

"Who are you?" Naruto said dully. He eyed the basket in Lee's hands and seemed to recognize it. He took it and slipped it through the small gap he had left open. He moved away from the door, closing it behind him.

"C-Can I ask you about Jiraiya?" Lee said, putting his hand on the door. Naruto's eyes lit up at the mention of the name. The energy was brief and he resumed a ghost-like appearance. He did leave the door open and Lee took it as a sign that he was allowed to come in. Naruto's apartment was very bland. The window blinds were closed, shading the place in dark grey. The air was thick and stuffy, and had an unidentifiable stench. It didn't smell as bad as Lee's apartment but it wasn't like Iruka's. The carpet was soggy for some reason. "Thank you," he said to the blonde.

Naruto put the basket down and sat on the floor. He took out a plate of spaghetti and started eating it with a plastic fork. Lee joined him on the floor, seeing as how the only seat in the apartment was an armchair facing the window. He noticed there was a fold-out table in the kitchen but it had no chairs. The square table was littered with Styrofoam bowls of instant noodle. Naruto ate his meal without looking at Lee. He washed it down with a bottle of water. "What do you wanna know about the old pervert?"

"Did he ever mention to you anything about his apartment?"

"Aside from the ghosts?" Naruto scoffed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Lee stared at him with wide eyes. Naruto chugged his water.

"He knew!? And you know too?"

"Everyone knows," Naruto said. He finally looked up at Lee. His eyes narrowed as he shook his head, repeating, "Everyone knows."

Lee couldn't believe his ears. It probably meant that Tsunade knew too. She rented a haunted apartment out to him. How dare she! And Lee had such high regard for the woman. He thought about Iruka and Kakashi and wondered if they knew as well. If they did, why did Iruka pretend he didn't know about the ghosts? It was adding to Lee's headache from the lack of sleep. "Do you know who they are?"

"No," Naruto spat. "The perv said they've been here for a good while. He was trying to find out about them but heh, he ended up killing himself."

"I-I thought he was run over by a car!" Lee shouted louder than needed. He was starting to think he shouldn't trust every word Iruka said.

"He was, in a way," Naruto said, shoving a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth. He chewed loudly and swallowed. "He walked in front of the car and got run over by it."

"Why?" People didn't just walk in front of moving vehicles without reasons.

"The hell I know! He was probably possessed by them," Naruto said in the most natural tone. "He was acting really weird before he died. He said something about how they take over you after a while." He dug into the basket and took out a green Jello cup.

"W-Why did he not just leave the apartment?"

"Have you tried leaving the place?" Naruto licked the top. He stuck his fork in and carved out the green treat.

"Yes!"

"Then why are you still here?" Naruto glanced at him, his tongue twirling around his fork in a manner that bordered seduction and strangeness. "You wanted to but you can't get away. This place just calls you back." He sucked out the Jello and crushed the plastic cup in his hand. He looked into the basket for something else to eat. "No one leaves," he said casually. He grumbled when he found that there wasn't anything left to eat. He threw the used utensils back into the basket and handed it to Lee. "Thanks for the food."

"Is there nothing I can do?" Lee asked. He watched Naruto stand up from the floor and sat on the armchair facing the window. The blinds were closed and Lee didn't know what he was looking at. "Naruto?" Lee walked behind the chair and leaned in to peep at his suddenly quiet neighbor. Naruto looked at the obscured window. His head tilted slightly to the side. He sat like a ragdoll, eyes seeing nothing. Lee put a hand on his shoulder and gave Naruto a weak shake. The blonde's body moved along with his shake. He looked catatonic. His lips parted and he mumbled something that Lee couldn't hear. Lee backed out of the apartment after taking one last look at Naruto. He closed the door behind and glanced down the hall to see Hinata fidgeting outside her door.

"D-Did he, um, tell you an-anything?" Hinata asked, taking the basket back in her hands. She opened it and had a satisfied smile when she saw that all the food had been eaten.

"He told me a lot," Lee said, forcing a smile to match Hinata's. Out of curiosity, he asked, "Why do you bring him food?"

"N-Naruto hasn't l-left his a-apartment for, um, three months. H-He says h-he can't…" Hinata bit her lip and looked over at the direction of Naruto's apartment. "T-Thanks for g-giving him the food…"

"Are you alright, Hinata?" He had come to the conclusion that the whole complex was disturbed. Hinata didn't look like she could fend for herself if something happened.

"H-huh? I-I am f-fine. I-I have t-to go… Good b-bye," she said, slipping back inside her apartment again. Lee managed to steal a glance of the inside and frowned. He was looking at what should be the living room but there was nothing there. The door closed in his face again. He exhaled a deep sigh and gazed at his own apartment.

"Everyone knows," he muttered. He walked toward the gate. He stopped in his track. Someone had closed the gate and it was chained from top to bottom. He stared at the locks with disbelief. He was gone for ten minutes and someone had locked him in again. He rattled the gate and checked the lock. He stuck his door key in to pick the lock. It didn't work. He glared out through the bars for a sign of a living person. Ten o'clock on a Saturday morning and the place was quiet as a funeral home. He took out his phone and was ready to call the fire department. Then he remembered Tenten and how he left her last night. He decided that he needed to give her a call.

"Lee! I'm so freakin' pissed off at you," Tenten shouted though her voice sounded tired. Lee hoped she hadn't stayed up all night. "Are you alright? I'm coming over, 'kay? Wait for me." Tenten hung up before Lee had a chance to put in even one word. He sighed and hung up as well.

Lee smiled to himself, feeling blessed that he had someone like Tenten to look out after him. He didn't know how he was going to manage without the bossy girl by his side. He scratched his nose when he felt a blush creeping on his face. He didn't see Tenten _that_ way! He had always considered her a beautiful lady, but he knew there could never be anything between them. They were more like siblings and would make better friends than lovers. Besides, now wasn't the time to think about relationships. He glanced at his door. A frown seized his brows as he noticed his door slowly creaking open. He forgot to breathe. If it was them, they weren't supposed to come out until night! He looked around him and suddenly realized that today was a rather cloudy day. The hall was exceptionally dim, it never did get much sunlight even on better days, and the light across his door still flickered on and off. The light bulb hissed and popped. It made Lee jump and yelped. He decided that he wasn't going to wait and see what came out. He ran to the gate and shook it to the best of his ability. Its clanking only mocked as it refused to give in. He didn't dare to look behind him. He moved back to Hinata's door and pounded on it.

"Hinata! Hinata! Please, I need your help!" He rang the doorbell. Its ding echoed inside the apartment. He tried the knob. Hinata was probably terrified by Lee's crazed attempt to break into her home. His neighbor didn't come to the door. He huffed like the hopeless wolf. "Hinata," he whimpered and pounded his fists on the door one more time. He could hear his door slamming against the wall. He clenched his teeth and slowly turned his head toward his apartment.

There she was, shivering in the middle of the hallway. She was slender and looked about Tenten's age. Her head twitched to the right in sporadic jerks. She stood facing Lee with one shoulder pulled back, like someone had bumped into her and she decided to stay frozen that way. She was drenched from head to toes. Her honey blonde hair draped over her face. She wore a black night gown that revealed a little too much of her breasts. It clung to her body like a second layer of skin. She quivered and made a sound that resembled a sob. She angled her head toward Lee and took a step forward. Lee stumbled back to the gate as she stalked toward him. He bumped into the metal bars and helplessly slid down on the floor. His legs didn't have the strength to stand.

She was barefoot but she walked with a sloshing noise. Lee clutched the gate, its iron coating peeling off onto his palms. She wobbled with difficulty, like a baby learning how to walk. She took four steps and tripped on her footing. She fell face-down with a loud thump. Lee panted and scooted as far as back as he could. He wished he had no bones and could slip through the bars. She got on her knees but her upper body remained glue to the floor. She pushed herself forward on her knees, her face and shoulders dragging across the floor. Lee looked behind him; he should've called the fire department when he had the chance. He looked back and saw that she had learned to use her hands as well. She crawled toward him on all fours. Her hand grabbed Lee's ankle. Lee screeched and kicked his leg, smacking her in the face. She swung her head along with the kick. Lee was at least thankful that her head didn't do a 360. Lee squeezed his eyes shut as he felt her weight coming on top of him. Her body was cold like she had just taken an ice bath. Lee whimpered. Her hands cupped his cheeks. He bit his lips shut. If he was going to die, he didn't want to die screaming like a girl, no offense to the girls. Her fingers wandered to Lee's eyes and she basically pulled his lids open. Lee couldn't stop the high-pitch scream that came out of his mouth when he saw her face. She opened her mouth to speak. Putrid water poured out. She said something over and over with half-open bloodshot aqua eyes. Her arctic fingers exploded Lee's pale face. Lee's non-stop screaming must have annoyed her. She climbed off of Lee and rolled on to her back. She stayed motionless for a moment. Lee cowered into the corner, pulling his legs up to his chest.

She arched her back up. Her legs moved first. They moved like someone was dragging her away. Her hair slid across the floor like a mop. She went to the other end of the hall, moving in whatever manner suited her. She would walk, and fall, then crawl, and roll over, and backstroke her way to the gate. She walked through the gate, literally, and disappeared out of sight. Lee didn't do anything except watched and hugged himself. His clothes were wet from her touch. He pulled his head down between his knees and tried to calm himself. He could see her swollen face when he closed his eyes. He wiped the tears threatening to ooze out from his eyes. He tried to figure out what she was telling him.

"_Pull_," she had gurgled. "_Pull._"

Lee pursed his lips. 'Pull' didn't make any sense. He looked at the wet spot on his clothes and started to put two and two together. He bolted up and slammed into the gate with a yelp. He rubbed his forehead with an 'ouch' and told himself to slow down. He wasn't going anywhere until someone unlocked the gate. His best bet was Tenten. Lee knew that she wasn't saying 'pull'.

"The pool," he said to himself. He needed to check the pool.

**--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---**

**Boyue's Note: This chapter sure was a long one! It took an extra day 'cause SOMEONE didn't review. Heh. Just kidding. I wasted yesterday working on another story that displeased me to no end. Anyhow, a lot of talking happened in this chapter but Lee is finally going to find clues! A clue! **

**Lee's, Hinata's, and Naruto's apartments are all on the same side. Keep that in mind. It's important. O.o**

**12.31.08**

**6:06 PM**


	7. 6

**Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Rated T for disturbing images not suitable for you!**

**--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---**

**ASHES AND DUST**

**- 6**

Lee did wonder why Tenten had a bolt cutter in the trunk of her car. Then again, she also had a nunchucks in a suitcase. He was thankful for it nonetheless, watching Tenten cut him loose from the confine of the hall. Tenten, frustrated and angry, kicked the gate a few times before she calmed down and turned to scolding Lee. Lee usually would have stayed and listened and apologized for being foolish, but he was in a hurry. He led Tenten down the stairs and headed to the north building. They opened the gate that secured the pool and stepped on the dry leaves. The pool water was putrid and littered with fallen brown leaves, painting the water a mixture of green and brown. He shouldn't be surprised at the lack of maintenance at the pool. A plastic bag floated on the surface, gliding its way to nowhere in particular. Tenten grunted at the disgusting water and pinched her nose. Lee circled the pool and looked for anything that stood out to him.

"Lee, don't tell me," Tenten said as Lee untied his shoes. He kept a stern face as he pulled off the turtleneck he was wearing. Tenten stormed behind him and grabbed by his hair, which made Lee yelped. "You're too smart for this, 'kay? I say we get as far away from this place as possible and never look back."

Lee rubbed his head and sighed dejectedly, "I am afraid that is not possible. We cannot leave until we have settled the spirits. They obviously need some help crossing into the next world." He had troubles believing the words coming out of his mouth. A few hours ago, he was swearing on his life that he would never stepped foot back here. Yet, here he was, kicking his shoes off to the side and ready to dive into the green water to see what was hiding in the pool.

"Snap out of it," Tenten shouted, followed by a smack on Lee's head. Lee winced and stumbled away from his abusive friend. "I know you're dumb but this makes absolutely no sense at all! You can't help these peo--- ghosts! You're only gonna get yourself killed."

Lee pushed a weak smile on his face. He came over and pulled Tenten into a brief hug. Tenten stood still and blinked. When she was ready to hug back, Lee was already pulling away. He grinned and gave her a thumb-up. "Trust me," he said. He looked over the pool and found a spot to jump in. Tenten stood at the edge of the pool and rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything more.

At the initial impact, the water gurgled and pulled Lee down. He was at the shallow end, where the water was just at his waist. The floor was slimy and probably home to millions of microscopic bacteria and other living beings. The water was chilling and Lee held in a sneeze. He navigated his way toward the deep end, looking up at Tenten now and then to reassure her that he was fine. He stepped on something slippery and wanted to cry out in surprise but didn't. Tenten would not be happy if he did. He stared through the water but a layer of algae blanketed his view. He lifted his arm out and saw that his skin was coated by little spot of green. He started to jump on his tip-toe as the water reached his neck.

"Lee," Tenten cried out, starling him. She hurried to the edge where he was and said with worries, "be careful."

"Yosh!" Lee grinned and it lessened the tension on Tenten's face. He took a deep breath and dived head-in through the water. He could barely keep his eyes open as chemical burnt them the moment he came in contact with the water. He resurfaced and took a quick breath. He swam his way toward the deep end, looking at the pool bottom as much as he could. He should've purchased some goggles. He could hardly see through the thick kelp and dirt. He had to resurface and chose the wrong spot to. When the plastic bag touched his head, Lee screamed, which made Tenten scream. The slippery texture of the bag wrapping around his scalp was nothing like he had ever experienced before. Tenten yelled at him. She leaned over and pulled the wet bag out of the pool. Lee thanked her, kicking his legs to stay afloat. "I am going back in," he said and did so.

He kicked his way to the deepest end and dived down. He thought he saw an abandoned mop; its thick yarns moving with the current. The darkness at the bottom of the pool didn't help his vision. He saw a black mass floating up and down. He paddled closer, a bold move that surprised him, and realized that he had found what he was looking for. He kicked himself up to the surface and drew in deep breathes to refill his lungs and steadied his nerves. Tenten was sitting cross-legged on the edge and stood up immediately when she saw Lee. They made eye-contact and Tenten gasped in disbelief, "No way…"

"There is a body down there," Lee said, his words baffled him. "S-She, I think it is a she… she is chained down to the bottom. I saw it around her waist." He shuddered, partially because of the cold air and partially because of his discovery. Her body was dumped in the pool; it could only mean that she was murdered. He doubted the chance that she threw herself in. He climbed out of the pool and covered his mouth with his moss-green hand. No wonder the water was so disgusting. He felt the muffins from the morning regurgitating. He ran to the trashcan by the lounge chairs and vomited his breakfast. His eyes watered from his effort and the bloated corpse he saw. He didn't know much about what happened to the human body after death but he was fairly certain that she had been there for a while. He was surprised actually at how well preserved the body was. He thought people would become a skeleton within days after their death, but he had been proven wrong. Tenten rubbed her hand on his back and offered soft words of comfort.

"We should call the police," she said after Lee finished emptying his stomach. She dug out a pack of tissue from her bag and handed it to Lee. "Let them handle it."

"Yo," someone greeted behind them. They looked and saw Kakashi leaning on the pool fence. He moved his glance to Lee and to the pool with a permanent smile on his face. "I guess it's too late to tell you not to swim in the pool," he said.

"There is a b-" Tenten blurt but was stopped by Lee's grip on her arm. She looked up at Lee with a frown.

"I doubt Tsunade had cleaned the pool in a while," Lee said, wiping his face with the tissue. He gestured at the green stains on his body. "The water is filthy."

"There's a lot of Tsunade hasn't gotten around to doing," Kakashi answered with a defeated sigh. He pushed off from the fence and waved at Lee and Tenten. "I gotta head back. Later."

Lee picked up his turtleneck and put it back on. He could always buy a new one after the whole ordeal was over. Tenten looked at him with a troubled frown. She eyed the direction that Kakashi headed off to and looked back at Lee with a guess. "You don't want anyone to know?" she asked. Lee nodded and ushered her out of the pool area. "We're still calling the police, 'kay?"

"No," Lee said gravely, "my neighbors cannot be trusted. They know something I do not and if the police come, I do not want them to be suspicious of me."

"Where did you get that conclusion from?" Tenten grumbled. She followed Lee back up to the third floor but stopped at the gate. "I'm not going inside."

"You can wait for me out there then." Lee unlocked his front door and pushed it open. He heard Tenten grumbling something and she appeared quickly behind him. She eyed the living room with suspicion before she stepped in. "Stay away from the stove," Lee warned. Tenten glared at the kitchen with a nervous twitch of her eyes.

"Maybe I'll wait outside," she stammered.

Lee walked into the bathroom and flicked on the light. It was clear of its otherworld occupant. He smiled at nothing in particular and asked if he had permission to take a shower. When nothing opposed, Lee undressed and hopped into the shower. The shower water wasn't that much purer than the pool water, but at least it didn't leave green slime on his body. He scrubbed off the spots on his torso, gave his hair a quick rinse to get rid of the chemical, and washed his face. He yanked open the shower curtain. He let out a quiet gasp when he saw her sitting on the sink counter with legs crossed. He didn't know until now that ghosts could show up in different appearance. She was still in her black gown but her hair was tied into intricate ponytails. She gazed off at the wall and Lee thought for a moment that she was quite a beauty. He suddenly remembered that he was naked and grabbed the towel to cover his lower part. Why he was blushing in front of a ghost was beyond his understanding.

"What needs to be done next?" Lee asked quietly in case Tenten could hear him. "I figure I have to lay your body to rest but I am afraid I cannot at the moment. I am sorry you will have to wait for a while along."

She turned her eyes away from the wall and stared at Lee dully. She turned her neck and gave a brief look at the mirror. They shared a moment of eye-contact. She slowly started to evaporate in front of Lee's eyes. He stepped out of the tub in an attempt to stop her from leaving. She left behind only fog on the mirror. Lee sighed and dried himself. He wiped the mirror clean. It squeaked under his touch. He glanced at the corners and noticed for the first time that the mirror was tilted a little off to the side. He wasn't entirely sure what came over but he opened the cabinet under the sink and closed it back when he didn't find what he was looking off. He remembered to put on his pants before he darted out of the bathroom and into the hallway.

Tenten looked up from the couch. Lee opened the linen closet and took out the tool box. He dug through the box and pulled out a hammer. Tenten followed him into the bathroom and lingered by the doorway. "What are you doing?" she asked, eying the hammer. She yapped when Lee swung the hammer and cracked the mirror. She shouted, "It's bad luck to break a mirror. Don't you think you're unlucky enough?"

Lee didn't answer. He signaled Tenten to step back before he took another swing at the mirror. Chunks of glass shattered on the counter. A stray shard left a thin cut on the back of Lee's hand. He lifted the hammer and broke the mirror, revealing the back wall. Tenten wrapped a towel around his hand even though it wasn't bleeding. They looked at the wall.

"What the hell?" Tenten muttered. Lee used the towel to pick off the remaining of the glass mirror. Once the mirror was nothing but broken glass in the sink, they stared at the wall with wide eyes. "Geesh," Tenten said. She stared at Lee and shrugged her shoulders in disbelief.

"The first child to exchange for your body," Lee read out loud the red writing on the wall. He recognized the ink as the same that vandalized his apartment. He furrowed his brows, tracing the words with his fingers.

"That sounds like a weird sacrifice ritual," Tenten said, bearing her teeth. She nudged Lee with her elbow. Lee blinked, trying to comprehend the message in front of him. "Woo-hoo, we have stumbled into a cult," she added and rolled her eyes. Sometimes, Lee wondered why Tenten couldn't take anything seriously. She should react differently upon learning that someone had been murdered.

Lee walked out of the bathroom and went to his room. He turned on his laptop and Tenten joined him on the bed. He looked through news archive containing any information about Leaf Village Apartment. Most of them were advertising the place. He found a few that talked about Jiraiya's death but none of them differed from what Iruka had told him. 'Old Man Ran Over By Car' was not headlining stories. He switched his search for missing children instead but didn't have anything to narrow down his choices. He never realized how many children were missing and how little of them were ever found. He sighed and turned off his laptop. Tenten put a comforting hand on his back. They stayed on the bed, thinking how they should proceed now.

"I still think we should call the cop," Tenten said, "especially if a murderous cult is involved."

"You are right," Lee muttered. He handed his phone over to Tenten and let Tenten handled the call. He listened half-heartedly to what Tenten told the operator. He saw Mr. Bear hanging out on his pillow. He knew they were all murdered, possibly quite gruesomely, and it made his stomach twisted in pain. He concluded that the bathroom ghost was drowned in the bathtub then dumped into the pool. A thought occurred to him. The remaining two bodies were very likely to be hidden somewhere in Leaf Village. "We should try to find the other two bodies."

"Let's wait till the cops get here before we do anything else," Tenten suggested. "I know you're upset, Lee, but everything's going to be fine, 'kay?"

They left the apartment together and waited by the pool for the police to arrive. The authority had divers that swam to the bottom of the pool. They came up empty-handed. The officer in charge was not very pleased with the 'prank'. No matter how much Tenten argued, the officers didn't believe her.

"Miss, were you the one who supposedly discovered the body?" the officer asked with annoyance. Tenten shook her head and pointed to Lee. "Look here, son, the water is nasty, you probably thought you saw something you didn't. I mean, golly, the smell alone is making me dizzy."

"We aren't lying!" Tenten shouted. "This whole apartment is messed up, 'kay!"

"Take it easy, miss," the office said, his voice rising to overpower Tenten. If Lee hadn't held her back, Tenten would've thrown a punch in the officer's smug face. The officer gave Lee a small lecture about always making sure before calling the police and wasting tax payer's money.

Lee and Tenten each took a seat on the lounge chairs. Lee gazed at the pool. He knew what he saw so it could only mean that someone had removed the body while he was gone. Or maybe the body removed itself, but he was sure that it was the actual corpse and not a representation. He buried his face in his palms. He shouldn't have waited to call the police. Now the body was gone and she would probably be angry with him. He felt like he couldn't do anything right. Instead of moping, Lee toughened up and decided that he needed to get the bottom of the whole thing. Who murdered them? Who removed the body from the pool? Who were they? He needed answers… but he didn't know where to start. They heard footsteps coming toward them and the pool gate creaked. They looked and were very surprised to see Ino.

"What are you doing here?" Tenten asked, sounding harsher than she needed to.

"I came to check on you, Lee," Ino said. She ignored Tenten completely and walked in front of Lee. She kneeled down and put her head on his laps, a gesture that startled both Lee and Tenten. "You'll be safe with me."

"What do you think you're doing?" Tenten pulled Ino away by her shoulders. Ino blonde glared up at her and nudged her grip off. Tenten growled, "Back off."

"You're cute when you're jealous, Tenten," Ino said, standing up and brushing her long hair behind her back. She winked at Lee and blew raspberries at Tenten. "Can't stand that I'm touching your boyfriend?" she teased, putting a hand on Lee's face.

Lee furrowed his brows. He didn't know Ino very well but he knew that her behaviors were strangely out of her character. He moved his head so Ino's hand wasn't touching his face anymore. He stood up and walked next to Tenten. They exchanged a look. Tenten had a faint blush on her cheeks for a reason Lee didn't know. Lee walked back to the apartment with Tenten on his right and Ino on his left. He filled Ino in on what had happened so far, including the missing body in the pool. Ino was the first one who walked in. She headed to the stove and closed her eyes. Tenten scoffed and sat down on the couch. Lee watched Ino moved her hands across the kitchen counters and the sink in deep concentration. He wondered if she was able to communicate with the dead. Ino got down on her knees and moved across the floor blindly, amazingly without hitting any furniture. Lee had to look away when he saw Ino's pink lace panties. Ino crawled on her knees toward the couch. Tenten looked like she was about to stomp on Ino's head but decided she was better than that. Ino climbed on the couch and put her hands on the wall.

"Ugggh," Ino grunted from her throat. Lee and Tenten looked at her and gasped in horror. Ino twitched her body like she was being electrocuted. Tenten stood up, not knowing what was happening. Ino stopped twitching long enough to bang her forehead against the wall. She clawed at the wall like she was trying to climb it. Tenten jumped up and grabbed her by the waist. They fell off the couch with Ino on top, still twitching out of control. Lee grabbed some paper towel and pressed it against her bleeding forehead. He was certain that Ino was being possessed. It scared him to see her like that, and Lee had seen a lot of weird things lately. Tenten pinned Ino down to the best of her ability but got a kick in her stomach and rolled off. Ino bolted up and jumped on the couch. She slammed her body against the wall and tumbled to the floor. It was now Lee's turn to try to hold her down. He used his weight to keep her on the floor. Ino grunted and flailed her arms in the air, reaching for something.

"Call an ambulance," Lee shouted at Tenten. Ino scratched his face with her manicured nails. He gripped her hands and shouted, "Ino, snap out of it!"

Ino slowly looked like she was falling asleep. Her eyelids fluttered and closed. Her body went limp and she stopped struggling under Lee's weight. Lee wasn't sure if it was because she had knocked herself out or because the possession was over; either way, he was simply glad that Ino was back to herself. Tenten helped clean the blood off her head while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. They decided not to move Ino in case she suffered a concussion, which Lee was sure she had from the hard impact. Tenten, for the first time ever, looked frightened by the apartment. She kept close to Lee, hiding behind him and holding his sleeve.

"It is alright," Lee said softly. Tenten pressed her forehead on his shoulder for a short moment. She looked over at the wall and the bloodstain that Ino had left. She tapped Lee's shoulder. "What is it?" Lee asked, looking at the wall.

"This wall has a fresher coat than the rest," Tenten pointed out. She ran her fingers over the wall and knocked on it with her knuckle. It made a hollow sound. "Did you hear that? This wall is new."

Lee knocked on the wall himself and agreed. "This apartment used to be bigger then… Maybe there is a hidden room here."

"Get your hammer," Tenten said. Lee obeyed and fetched the hammer from the bathroom. Tenten took it and left a dent on the wall but it was up to Lee to finish the work.

"I do not think we can break down the wall," he said as his arms grew tired. He clenched his teeth as the concrete dust clouded around his eyes. He threw three more hits at the wall and a hole crumbled down unexpectedly.

Lee and Tenten backed up and coughed harshly from the dust. They blew the dust out from their face and looked through the hole in the wall. Tenten moved forward, leaning on the couch, and poked her head in.

"Woah," Tenten muttered, "you should look at this."

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**Boyue's Note: First of all, please let me apologize for the crappy quality of this chapter. I had a difficult time working on it. I had a really bad day. My internet is working funny and I found out that I am kind of homeless now! Yay. T-T**

**With that said, I'm sorry to leave you on a cliff hanger but I can't work on it anymore. I (probably) won't be updating for a bit while I deal with the horrors of life. I'm at least thankful I don't live in a haunted house. But don't give up hope! Those of you who read my work before knows that it means you'll have to wait only a few days to a week before the next update. I won't disappear into the night just yet. So, let me apologize and I will return soon…ish.**

**01.02.09**

**7:45 PM**


	8. 7

**Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Rated T for disturbing images not suitable for you!**

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**ASHES AND DUST**

**- 7**

Tenten moved out of the way and allowed Lee to walk through the hole they had made. It was, as they had expected, an empty room. Lee walked in first with Tenten following close behind him. She clutched to the back of his shirt so he couldn't get too far ahead without her. The room was completely devoid of anything except for a door that was bolted from inside. The walls, the bare ceiling, and the concrete floor were charred. It was apparent that a house fire had broken out some time ago. Lee led Tenten to the middle of the room. They looked around them, taking in the burnt surrounding.

"It smells bad," Tenten said quietly, reaffirming a fact that Lee was aware of. "Like… burnt barbeque pork."

Lee carefully placed his feet on the floor as he treaded across the empty room. He didn't step on anything out of the ordinary as he made his way to the bolted door. It was secured with rusted chains and bronze-colored locks that didn't have keyholes. He gripped the chains and rattled them. They clanged to the floor like dead vines. The sudden noise startled Tenten and Lee earned a mean scold from her. He pushed the chains away and touched the knob. It was hot and he couldn't see why it would be. He turned the knob slowly and opened the door, unsure of what would wait for him on the other side. He gulped and held in a gasp. It was the hallway. He stepped out of the door and looked to his left to find the hallway gate. He looked to his right and saw his own apartment door. He stepped into the hall and turned around to look at the once-bolted door. His eyes lingered on the gold numbers spelling out "300".

"This is Hinata's apartment," Lee said to himself mostly. He walked back into the empty room and looked around to reassure himself. "This is supposed to be her apartment."

"Unless she is a hobo, I don't see how she can live here," Tenten responded. She walked over and kept close to him.

Lee closed the door behind him. He walked in a circle around the room and stopped by a pile of white ashes that he didn't notice when he first walked in. He got down and brushed the ashes out of the way with his hands. Tenten stood by his side, leaning over his shoulder. She bent her knees to read out loud the words carved into the concrete.

"The second child to exchange for your heart," she mumbled. "It's just like the one in the bathroom."

Lee looked at his hands and the ashes dusted on his skin. He clenched his teeth with a troubled and disturbed frown. "I think… this is someone's ashes."

"You don't think someone was cremated here, do you? It takes a lot of heat to turn a body into ashes," Tenten said. "I mean, even if there was a fire here… it's not possible."

Lee didn't answer. A week ago, he didn't think ghosts were possible. Now, he was willing and ready to believe in anything. He fisted his hands, dusting the ashes onto his palms. He said a prayer in his mind before he stood up. He looked all around him and breathed slowly out of his mouth. He looked at Tenten and nodded his head.

"I need you to call Neji," he said.

"Why? I thought you didn't want to him know."

"I need you to ask him about his cousin."

Tenten complied and paced around the room as she waited for Neji to answer her call. Lee walked back to the hole and realized how thin the wall was. If Hinata had really been 'living' in the room, he should've heard at least something; her footsteps or her voice. And if the door was locked from inside with chains, Lee didn't see how she could travel in and out of the room. Well, he had one idea; but he didn't want to think it was the right one.

"Hey, Neji, I got a question for you. Can you tell me anything about your cousin, Hinata?" Tenten asked. She pressed her lips tight and nibbled on a chapped piece of skin. She eyed Lee and looked away quickly. "Thanks. Yeah… I'll see you Saturday, 'kay? Bye."

"What did he say?" Lee walked over. Tenten averted his eyes. She played with her phone, tossing it in the air and barely catching it with her hand.

"He said she went missing a while ago and he doesn't know where she is or if she is still alive or not."

"And…?" Lee furrowed his prominent brows.

"And… nothing," Tenten said. She shrugged her shoulders. "He doesn't know anything else."

"Thank you."

Lee took a last look at the room before he guided Tenten back to his apartment. They slipped through the hole and landed on the sofa. Lee jumped off and stood up straight. He looked around, drawing out his breath. Ino was gone, and he really wasn't that surprised. He did worry if she was alright. Someone with a concussion probably couldn't walk far. The front door wasn't open and Lee hoped that Ino had only decided to touch up her make-up in the bathroom. Tenten gripped his elbow and latched on tight. Lee looked back at her and tried his best to put on a comforting smile. He must have done it wrong because Tenten screamed. He had never heard her scream like that before; she had such a high-pitched cry that could break glasses if she held the note for any longer. Tenten jumped into his arms and locked her arms around his waist. Lee didn't know what had frightened her until he heard a loud hissing noise behind him. He turned his head. His eyes opened wide at the pair of eyes glaring at him from the wall. It wasn't even a face; it was just a pair of jade eyes that took up about half of the wall with each eye. It looked like the wall had gained a pair of eyes. It also felt like he was visited by an unfriendly giant. The eyes stared at him and Lee stared at the eyes.

The hissing amplified all around him. His whole apartment was crumbling into fine grains of sand. Lee felt like he was in a sand castle and now the kid had decided to knock it down. Grain by grain, his solid furniture evolved to mountains of sand. Tenten tightened her embrace on Lee. He put a hand on her shoulder; his best attempt to comfort her. It didn't last long before his index finger disintegrated and blended into Tenten's fragmented shoulder blade. She looked up and shrilled as she found herself disappearing into coarse particles. Her knees vanished. Her shins collapsed onto her ankles. She screamed as a puddle of sandy matters on the floor. Lee wasn't doing much better himself. He felt an ear and his nose falling off. He looked down at Tenten with one eye and watched her face melted into sand. He heard her last scream before his neck broke and his head landed on the floor, breaking it into sand. As his head decomposed and he lost his five senses one by one, Lee saw a pair of feet in front of him. With his eye, literally, on the floor, he couldn't see the person but he knew the feet belonged to the kid he had seen at his front door. He recognized the dark red onesie. The child ghost walked toward his face. Milliseconds before he lost his sight, Lee saw a blob of crimson hair. He felt, barely, a tender hand touching the tip of his nose. Then everything around him faded… or to be more accurate, he faded.

It was hard for him to explain how it felt to be in a state of nothing. It felt like nothing. He was nothing. Yet he felt everything. He felt he was in everything that existed within nothing. It was so frightening that it was soothing. It was so calming that it was disturbing. Lee felt more relaxed than he had been his entire life but he didn't like being nothing. He wasn't sure if he had died and was on his journey to the afterlife. If he was, he hoped it would be over soon because he really disliked the feeling of not feeling. He wondered what happened to Tenten and if maybe she was experiencing the same thing he was. It took a moment – a very long moment – before Lee realized that he had his eyes back. He fluttered his heavy lids open and saw that he was looking up at something. His sight waved in front of him. Everything was chlorine blue. He blinked his eyes. They stung. He saw the rays of light trying to penetrate through the water surface. He was underwater and stared up at the blurred sky. He was floating in mid-water. He felt his big toes wiggling. The water was cold. He could see the yellow sun but he couldn't feel its warmth. He stopped floating. He sank. The blue became darker. The sun went farther. The water grew much colder. It felt like he was submerging in ice. The water stopped wavering before his eyes. His body felt heavy. He was glad that he at least felt his body. A force pulled him. He felt hands on his waist. Soft hands. A lady's hands. He wasn't wearing a shirt. Her hands caressed his torso and massaged his neck. Her fingers slipped into his mouth. They touched his teeth. He resisted the urge to bite. They wandered to his eyes and forced them to close. He sank faster. Deeper. Lower.

It felt hot. He wasn't in the water anymore. He rolled over. His face hurt. He saw orange flame dancing around him. It laughed, poking at his skin with the tip of its hand. Lee kicked his leg, not that it did anything to help. He fell toward the flame. It engulfed him. He screamed but he didn't make a sound. The fire roared, consuming him. He felt his flesh ripping away from the hot temperature. He brought his hands up. He covered his face. His flesh melted. He saw his white bones. His hair caught on fire. Black strands curled before they fell off. His eyebrows were gone. His vulnerable lips peeled. He closed his eyes. His eyelids burnt off. He saw a skinless face in the midst of the flame. It smiled at him, baring its white teeth. The face was attached to a body. It raised its arm. It touched Lee's shoulder. Lee squirmed. The arm pulled away. It crumbled into black dust. The dust blew around him. He tried not to breathe but the black soot filled up his nostrils and travelled to his lungs. He coughed. A black fog came out of his mouth. He couldn't see. He kept falling.

He hit the bottom. He hit it hard. He was lying on jagged rocks. He looked above him at the clear blue sky. Clouds glided by in carefree shapes and sizes. He tried to move and found that his hands and legs were buried deep in the ground. He looked up again. The sky was covered by a rainfall of sand. The sand scraped his skin. The grains went into his nose. He couldn't breathe but he couldn't stop breathing. He swallowed the sand. He coughed and swallowed more. His chest hurt from the lack of oxygen. He tried to keep his eyes open. The sand poked at his frail eyeballs. He felt his eyes bleeding, as did his nose and his throat. He felt every ounce of his blood pouring out from one of his orifices. Bloody sand was all he saw and smelled and tasted and felt. He heard sand sloshing into his ear canals and pushed out by the blood. He couldn't expand his ribcage anymore. The weight of the sand on top of him crushed him. He wiggled his fingers. They lodged in the packed sand. It hurt. Then it didn't anymore.

Lee opened his eyes. He felt a weight resting uncomfortably on his abdomen. He looked around and saw the feet of the coffee table. He pushed himself on his elbow, taking in where he was. He was back in his apartment, perhaps he had never left. He sat up and saw Tenten's head. She was crying softly into his shirt. She looked up, her eyes red, and bit her lips. She leaped and threw herself on Lee. She lost control of her emotions and sobbed loudly on Lee's shoulder. He rubbed her back up and down. He wasn't even sure what had happened in his metaphysical out-of-body experience. Tenten gripped his shoulder blades hard, digging her stubby nails into his skin. He ran his fingers into her hair, noticing how messy her buns had become. He shushed her, not that it was doing any good to calm her.

"I-I… I th-thought I-I di-died," Tenten sniffled, wiping her nose on Lee's shirt. "It w-was… it s-scared the crap out of m-me."

Lee hoped it was only a figure of speech. He pulled her away and rubbed her forearms with a smile. Tenten wiped her eyes, smearing a black trail of mascara. He didn't know that she wore make-up, but it explained why her eyelashes looked so full and thick. She put her head back on his shoulder and clutched his arm. Lee took it as a silent plea to hold her. He complied willingly. They stayed on the floor for a while until Tenten fell comfortable enough to let go of Lee. She sat up straight and rubbed her blood-shot eyes. A faint blush crept on her cheeks when she realized that she had practically been sitting on Lee the whole time. She stood up, dusting her pants and wiping her hands on her thighs. Lee stood as well and stretched his back free of the soreness.

"What now?" Tenten asked with a small hiccup.

"We need to go to the sandbox. I will need a shovel," Lee said.

"Oh great, yeah, dig up more bodies. Good, good." Tenten stomped over to the kitchen and tugged off a section of the paper towel. She blew her nose loudly, facing her back against Lee. She crumbled the paper into a ball and threw it in the sink. "Yeah, yeah, all you care about are these ghosts. What about Ino? We don't even know what happened to her! But no, Lee's too busy playing with boogeyman."

"Tenten, I… I am sorry."

"Do you even care what happened to me?" Tenten spun around and shouted. She drove the heel of her palm against one of her eyes and sobbed. "I was so scared and… and I thought you would be there… but you don't even give a crap! I-I could still be a pile of sand and you wouldn't even notice."

"Please… You know I will do all I can to help you if you need me," Lee said. "But…"

"But what?"

"But I did not… ask you to help me. I have no intention of endangering you and I am truly sorry that I have. If you want to leave, you may." He regretted saying it as soon as the words flew out of his mouth.

Tenten kicked the sink cabinet and slammed her hand down on the kitchen counter. It must have sting but Tenten didn't show it. She glared at Lee angrily. He had never seen her so angry before and he found that he couldn't look her in the eyes anymore. Tenten smacked the counter again and got herself another chunk of paper towel. She cleared her nose and threw the ball into the sink.

"Fine, I will go," she spat. She walked to the door and pulled it wide open. She turned back to Lee and said meanly, "Have fun with your little friends."

"Tenten…" The door slammed and cut off his sentence.

Lee sighed as a wave of fatigue came over his body. He didn't mean to get Tenten angry but it was for the best if she stayed away. He checked the apartment for any sign of Ino and found that she had disappeared. He truly hoped that she was safe because he didn't see why the ghosts would want to hurt her. Since she was a medium, Lee guessed that they should cherish her and not do her harm. He searched the apartment for a shovel even though he knew there wouldn't be one. He didn't have a need for a shovel. He did found a set of measuring cups that could come in handy. He also took the ladle with him as he headed out. He stopped at Hinata's door. He didn't know what came over him but he decided to knock on the door. He waited impatiently. No one answered. He wasn't surprised and it confirmed what he suspected of his neighbor. He pushed open the gate and slipped through. He turned his head around when he heard Hinata's door opening. As quickly as it was opened, the door slammed close again. Lee shook his head; he would deal with that mystery after the sandbox ordeal.

He stepped through the playground gate and kneeled in front of the sandbox. He put down the kitchen utensils. The sand castle was trampled by recent footprints. He circled around the box and found what he was looking for. He pulled out the dead weeds that blocked one side of the box. He leaned forward and traced his fingers over the words etched into the rotten wood.

"The last child to exchange for your soul," he read.

He took up the ladle and scooped out a spoonful of sand at a time. He knew it would take a long time before he could get to the bottom of the pit. He thought maybe he should go and buy a shovel to make it easier. He stayed on his knees and thought about it. He decided it wasn't worth risking in case someone come by and do something to the sandbox. He still didn't know where the pool body had gone to. He picked up the ladle and began a tedious and endless task of emptying the sandbox. He suddenly recalled the dream he had the first night he moved in. He was digging into the sandbox, just like he was now. He remembered he had a toy shovel and a plastic bucket. He also remembered the avalanche of sand that attacked him. He put down the ladle and braced himself. He reached in and dug with his bare hands. The sand was softer than he had expected. It didn't hurt too badly, and digging with his hands was faster than using the ladle. He pushed a hill of sand to the side and dug deeper in the center. The sandbox wasn't very big and didn't leave much room for option. He knocked the hill away, spilling the sand outside the box. He winced when something cut his finger but he kept going and going. Soon, he wasn't digging at sand anymore but small pebbles and dirt. The sandbox was deeper than an average one but Lee could guess why it was.

He wiped his hands on his pants and blew off the fine layer of dust. He dropped his weight on his hands and knees and leaned over the hole he had dug. He could see something different in there asides rocks and stones. He pushed his weight on one side of his body and reached a hand in. He touched something hard. He pulled back out. He used the measuring cups to chip the hole bigger. He rested again when the hole was about the size of a bowling ball. He didn't need to lean in to see what was hidden. He took a deep breath and blew some of the surrounding sand away. He felt like an archeologist, discovering the tomb of an ancient king. He looked at the dried-up flesh that looked like part of an arm. It looked close enough to be a mummy. Lee sat on his heels and took a breath of relief. Now that he had found the last body, the ghosts should be content. He checked and realized that he had forgotten to take his phone with him when he came down. He knew better than to run upstairs to fetch his phone. The tomb raider could snatch the body. He wondered if he should dig out the body and take it with him, though he didn't even want to do it. An idea came to him when he remembered that they had called an ambulance for Ino earlier. It should be arriving soon and he could tell the medical technicians about the body. Once again, he said a prayer for the ghost before he stood up. He jumped when he heard someone behind said,

"What are you doing?"

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**Boyue's Note: I am sorry to have kept you waiting! I can't promise that the next update will be soon. There is also only going to be one or two more updates, depending on how much I write the next chapter. Yeah, the story is over soon. O.O;;**

**Lee doesn't know how to handle ladies. Poor guy. xDD Anyways! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And remember: every time you don't review, Orochimaru molests an underage ninja. Think of the ninjas! T-T**

**In the meantime, I suggest that you all visit darkness333 on deviantArt and check out her piece, "Ghost Container". It is a lovely piece of work that will get you in the mood of this story! =)**

**01.14.09**

**6:45 PM**


	9. Negative Zero

**Naruto and its characters © Masashi Kishimoto**

**Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you… the last chapter of "Ashes and Dust".**

_I recommend that you all visit darkness333 on deviantArt and check out her piece, "Ghost Container" if you haven't done so already. You will find that I drew a scene from her work. =)_

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**ASHES AND DUST**

**- 0**

"What are you doing?"

Lee tried to pull a carefree smile though he knew it wouldn't do much against Tsunade's angry look. She had both of her hands on her hips and leaned forward with her upper body that made her look like a mother ready to scold her unruly son. She had the wrath of Ares descended from the high clouds to punish foolish mortals. She walked toward Lee and looked over his shoulder at the ruined sandbox. She furrowed her perfectly shaped brows and glared at Lee, throwing her arms over her large bosoms. Lee took a step back, shadowing the sandbox with his height.

"If you got something to get rid, there is a dumpster," Tsunade said.

"This is not what you think." Lee paused. He contemplated on telling Tsunade about the bodies scattered across her complex. From the look on her face and her behavior, Lee figured that she did know something that she wasn't willing to share. He groaned inwardly; the whole apartment was in on the murders. "I am sorry to have made a mess. I will clean it up."

"No, no, let me see what you're hiding."

"I am not hiding anything." Lee stopped Tsunade from approaching the sandbox. His landlord narrowed her eyes and pushed Lee aside. He was never a good liar and couldn't bring himself to hurt a lady.

"Oh my god… Is that… Oh god…" Tsunade stumbled away from the exposed hole with a hand over her mouth. She looked at Lee and looked at the hole. She looked like she was about to vomit out her inside. She turned away and walked toward the gate, but stopped halfway. She walked back next toward Lee and grabbed him hard by his elbows. "Y-you…"

"We need to call the police," Lee said.

"The police? What? No, no, we can't call them." Tsunade threw her hand off Lee's elbow and shook her head. She turned her body at an angle and pressed her fingers against her temples. She turned back around and grabbed Lee tighter. She shook her head while she said, "We can't call the cops."

"There have been at least three murders committed here… We have to call the authority." Lee wasn't entirely surprised at Tsunade's reluctance to alert the authority. He knew she was aware. "I hope… you are not responsible."

"No, you don't understand, Lee. If the cops get here and find these bodies, it's going to be a huge deal. The news will be here and you know what's going to happen next? People are going to know and no one ever wants to live in a place where people got killed!"

"I understand your concern… but that is a very horrible thing for you to say," Lee said, furrowing his thick brows at Tsunade's lack of ethic.

"I-I need this place, Lee, I need to keep this place running. I need the money. Do you have any idea how much debt I am in? I can't lose this place. You call the cops and I'll be ruined."

Lee winced at how hard Tsunade was holding his arms. Her manicured nails were digging deep into his flesh. He shrugged her off, shaking his head in disapproval. Tsunade launched forward and grabbed a hold of him again. He never thought a lady of her age could be so strong. He fought against her but found that Tsunade was, somehow, overpowering him.

"Please let me go," Lee said, batting Tsunade's hand.

"Look, look, Lee, I-I'll make you a deal. I will… what do you want? I will give you two months free of rent, how's that? You like that?"

"You are mad!" Lee pushed Tsunade off of him. He didn't mean to send her landing on the playground floor but he did. He felt a little remorse for hurting her but justice needed to be done. "Forgive me, but I have to do what is right."

"Yeah… sure… then… hey…" Tsunade got herself off the ground. She groaned, holding her hand behind her back. "Ugh, forgive me for doing this."

Lee saw it coming but he didn't see it coming. Tsunade tackled him to the ground with the strength of a titan. He couldn't even catch her before he plummeted to the ground. He hit the back of his head against the wooden border of the sandbox. A fast numbness tickled down his spine. He twitched a little before he regained his composure and looked up at Tsunade just in time to see her hitting the side of his head with a rock. He moved his head along with the motion of Tsunade's blow. He let out a quiet gasp of pain before Tsunade stuck him again. He brought his head up to hold his head. He felt Tsunade's weight leaving his body and took a sharp breath. He stared up at the sky and only saw flashes of white. Then darkness came over.

Lee tried to count how many times he had passed out over the course of the week. He sat up, rubbing the side of his throbbing head. He didn't need to look around to know that he was back inside his apartment. He was becoming more familiar with his carpet than he liked to be. He stood – or tried to – and decided that he needed to stay low for a little longer. The apartment was dark because his curtains were drawn. He got on his knees and crawled his way to the window seat. He pushed himself up and leaned against the hard wall. He hadn't even had a chance to enjoy the window seat once since he moved in. He steadied his breath, feeling a little disoriented. He held his head while he used his free hand to yank open his newly installed curtain. He closed his eyes, expecting the afternoon light to wash over him. Darkness still lingered. He turned toward the window and blinked. His window was blocked by a metal plate from the outside. He reached for the lock and pushed open the window; the glass hit the plate in about an inch. He slipped his fingers through the gap and tapped the plate. He concluded that he wasn't seeing thing and that there was indeed something blocking his window. He stepped down from the window seat and staggered his way toward the front door. He worked the locks and dragged open the door to be greeted by a metal fence, like the one that stores used in the shopping mall. He clanked on the fence; it echoed through his apartment. He fell on his bottom to the floor. He pulled his head between his legs. A horrible pain ached from the back of his neck. He was fairly certain that he was trapped inside his apartment. No doubt it was the handy work of Tsunade. He couldn't believe how far she would go to protect her business. He blamed himself for underestimating her.

Lee made his way to the sofa and rested on it. He needed to gain back his strength before he could do anything. He could hardly even think properly at the moment. He rubbed his head and a crust of dried blood fell from his hair. He put his head down and sighed; even breathing was painful to his head. He glanced over at the dining table and saw that his cell phone was missing. He might have suffered from head injury but Lee always remembered where he left his belongings. He would swear on his life that he had left his phone on the table and he had a good idea what happened to it. He didn't even want to think what Tsunade was planning to do by putting him in house arrest. He had some food and water that could keep him alive for a few days. He did wonder how long he could last without seeing sunlight. He remembered Naruto and how disturbed he was facing the blocked out window. Lee rolled on to his side and faced the backseat of the sofa. He pushed himself up and saw that the hole was gone. He really doubted that Tsunade could find concrete and filled up the wall like there had never been a hole there. He knocked on the wall and heard how solid it was. He shuddered. He had been scared and frightened a few times already, but it was really the first time he had ever been crept out by the apartment. He sat on the sofa, not knowing what to do. If there was even anything he could do to save himself. He wanted to smack himself for not leaving the place when he had the chance. He was now stuck here with no way out.

The doorbell startled him out of his mind. He stumbled over to the front door that he had left open. The fence rattled ferociously. It looked like something was trying to get in through the other side. Lee kept his distance.

"Hello? Is someone out there?" Lee shouted through the loud rattling. "I-I am trapped in here. Please help me."

The rattling stopped. The fence stood still. Silence stifled the atmosphere. Lee held his breath, waiting for something to answer him. He heard a light footstep.

"I-I… am… am sorry." It was Hinata. "I…I di-didn't know…"

"Hinata? Can you help me?"

"I… No… Um… I-I d-don't think so…"

"What is wrong with this place? You must know. Please, Hinata, please tell me." Lee leaned on the fence. He kneeled down to see if he could pull it up but it was bolted to the ground. He stayed down and rested against the door. His head still hurt.

"A… really bad… um… person used to… l-live here," Hinata stammered. He could hear that she had settled down to his level on the other side. "His n-name w-was… Y-Yashamaru and h-he… um… took his ni-niece and nephews here and um…"

"He killed them?"

"Y-yes…"

"Why? I found some kind of prayers around here. Do you know what he was trying to do?"

"N-no… I-I don't… When I came here… th-they were already…"

"I see," Lee said. He squeezed his eyes and cleared his thought. "What happened to you, Hinata?"

"M-My dad k-kicked me out… and I was looking for… um… a place to live… That's when… I saw his ads… in the paper… He said he needed… someone to… help with his r-rent… and I thought it would be p-perfect b-because I n-needed s-somewhere cheap…"

"He lured you in…"

"He s-seemed… like… a really nice m-man when I m-met him…"

"I am… very sorry."

"W-When I c-came to… I was… not… myself anymore… I c-couldn't leave… here…"

"Is there something I can do to help you?" Lee turned toward the fence. Though he couldn't see it, he felt Hinata looking back at him.

"I… I don't know… J-Jiraiya tried to h-help… he said that I was… um… cursed… and that…"

"I need to find a way to break the curse in order to free you," Lee finished the sentence for her. He held his chin with his fingers and tried to think.

"Y-yes…"

"Do you think it is related to the three people he killed? If I help them, can I help you too?"

"It may just work."

Lee stood up straight. He frowned at the new voice that joined the conversation. The fence made it a little difficult to hear but he knew for sure that it was Iruka's voice. He heard shuffling and sensed that Iruka had sat down as well. He heard a faint shuddering from Hinata. At the moment, he couldn't determine if Iruka was a friend or a foe.

"How are you, Lee? Are you comfortable?"

Foe, definitely a foe. Lee clutched his jeans and calmed himself. He wanted to find out how Iruka was involved; it was hard to believe it, he seemed like such a nice person. Then again, Hinata said the same about the murderer.

"Let me fill you in on what happened," Iruka said softly, like he was about to tell a bedtime story. "Yashamaru lost his sister a long time ago and he never got over her death. He learned from somewhere that there was a way to bring her back. What he needed to do was to trade for her life back. They had to be related to her by blood. Seeing as how he was her only brother, he needed someone else to fill the role. Lucky for him, his sister had three children before she died. He took them here and offered them one by one from the oldest to the youngest. He was so set on the thought that it would work." He chuckled and sighed with pity.

"What happened…? It did not work?"

"It worked… but whatever he brought back to life wasn't his sister anymore. It was a monster… a demon from the depth of hell. The demon needed a host to live," Iruka paused. Lee could sense him gesturing at Hinata, "and that is where Hinata came in. Yashamaru sealed the soul inside Hinata's body. Poor Hinata is now forced to wander. He hid her real body somewhere, waiting for his sister to wake. He dumped the siblings' bodies around Leaf Village… as you are aware."

"This is insane," Lee muttered.

"The siblings have been haunting the apartment ever since and you've been helping them by finding their bodies… a very, very bad move."

"Why? I only wanted to help them."

"The demon will wake up. In a way, they have been keeping their mother under control. Now that you've set them free, who knows what will happen? That's why Tsunade and I have decided to lock you in."

"I knew she was part of it!" Lee stood up. He banged on the fence with his fists. It left some dents but he wasn't close to breaking free. "Why are you doing this to me!"

"My speculation is that we will need someone new to keep the demon under control. You're strong, Lee, you will do very well against it."

"What are you saying!?"

"I'm sorry to tell you that we had to… sacrifice… your blonde friend. I promise you she didn't go through any pain," Iruka said.

"You bastard!" Lee shouted. He couldn't remember the last time he had used a curse word. It was probably when Neji beat him for ten consecutive times at Street Fighters in fourth grade. He hardened his fist and punched as hard at the metal as he could. It stung and he let out a frustrated and pained cry.

"Your other friend, the brunette, will also be joining you."

"If you lay a finger on Tenten, I will kill you!" Lee punched it again, throwing his whole weight in. "I will kill you!"

"I'm really sorry. If we had a choice, we wouldn't want to hurt you," Iruka said sincerely. Lee was too angry to hear his apology. He could hear Iruka standing up. "I'm sorry… but please die for all of our sake, Lee."

"Iruka! Where is Tenten! Let her go! Let her go!" He pounded with as much force as he could. The fence clanked under his strikes but it didn't budge. He heard Iruka walking away. "Hinata? Are you still here? Please help me, Hinata."

"I-I… d-don't know… wh-what to do…"

"Please… please help me. I need you, Hinata," Lee said, his voice breaking. "I cannot let him do anything to Tenten…"

"I… I…"

"Please…. Please…" Two hot trails of tears cascaded down his cheeks. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead against the cold metal. He could never forgive him for what he put Tenten through. He was already hating himself beyond words. "Hinata, please help me…"

"I-I… Ah! I-I will… ask Naruto… he… can help."

"Yes! Yes, please do. Thank you, thank you!"

"W-wait for me."

Lee sniffled and wiped his face clear of tears. If Tenten saw him crying, she would surely make fun of him. He steadied his pace around the living room. According to Iruka, he had set the siblings free. There was a possibility that the demon he had mentioned would burst out of the wall and eat him. He needed something to defend himself though he could hardly imagine what would be useful against demons. He looked through the knives in the drawer just in case. It probably wouldn't do much against creatures from another realm but he could use it to stab the heck out of Iruka and Tsunade. He clutched his hands and suppressed the urge to shout out a long string of profanity. Lee generally liked everyone; but he was definitely putting Iruka and Tsunade on his blacklist.

"Are you leaving already?"

Lee looked down the hallway to the bedroom. He saw the redhead child holding Mr. Bear. He hid half of his body behind the doorframe. He looked shy and almost scared to show his face. Lee felt a pang in his chest. The child was so young; he didn't deserve to die. Lee walked toward the bedroom. The child retreated back inside the room. Lee followed him and found him sitting on his bed, playing with Mr. Bear's arms.

"Why are you still here?" Lee asked. It was hard to believe that the little boy in front of him was the same thing – person – that had caused him so much terror.

"I wanted to say good-bye," the redhead answered in a soft voice. He gazed at Lee for a few seconds before he looked away. He bounced the bear in his laps. "Can I have him?"

"Of course. Where are your sister and brother?"

"They left already. I am going soon too…" He lowered his head. Sorrow took over his young face.

"Hey…" Lee bolded his heart and kneeled in front of the boy. He smiled and said, "You are not alone."

The boy nodded and climbed off the bed. He clutched his new bear in his chest and walked toward the front door. Lee followed him out and watched him walk through the fence that confined him. Before the child disappeared, he turned his head and looked at Lee one last time.

"Bye," he said.

"Take care," Lee waved.

The air in the apartment felt lighter the second the ghost left. Lee breathed out of his mouth. He felt relieved that he at least helped three lives. He was quickly reminded by the fact that he had caused two to die in order to save the three. He also wanted to help Hinata even though he had little idea how to. Speaking of Hinata, she should've returned already. Lee paced about the door nervously. The calm and relief he had felt moments ago were boiling down to a panic. He ran his fingers through his matted hair. The air that was lighter was now becoming heavier and thicker. He gulped when he saw a dense fog forming around him. Its ash-like color obscured his view of the rest of the apartment. It filled up the space quickly. Lee could barely see in front of him. He felt his way around until he reached the cold metal fence. He silently prayed for Hinata to make haste. He kept a grip on the doorknob to anchor himself.

"L-Lee…" Hinata shouted on the other side of the fence. "S-stay back…!"

"Here we go…"

Lee recognized it to be Naruto's voice before a loud clang startled him. He waved the fog out of his face and saw that they had successfully made a dent in the fence. He heard Naruto grunt as he tried to pry the metal wide open. Lee saw the tip of an axe before Naruto pulled it out and hacked at the fence again. Meanwhile, the fog thickened around him. Lee wasn't sure why but he thought it was a good idea not to inhale the fog, which was gaining a light crimson hue. The fog expanded heavier and assumed a mist-like quality. Lee felt moisture in his nose when he breathed.

"Please hurry," Lee said.

"We are trying," Naruto responded with frustration. He did notice that Naruto sounded a little more energetic than last time. "He-yah!"

The three of them screamed at the same time. Mauve sparks of lightning exploded. From the slits that Naruto had made with the axe, black goo-like substance poured out. Lee stumbled back, holding an arm over his face. The thick fluid slobbered to the carpet. It came to life and slithered toward him like snakes. Lee took another step away to dodge the snakes. He heard Naruto hacking frantically at the metal. Naruto reached in his fingers, smothered with the black goo, and tried to use his hands to pry open the metal.

"Give me the axe," Lee shouted just as another spark of lightning crackled. "I will open it from my side."

"Alright, here you go." Naruto shoved the axe, barely, through one of the gaps he had made. The blade and the handle were swallowed in the black fluid. "Hurry up!"

Lee gripped the axe and readied himself for his swing. He had to wait for the purple electric sparks to die down. He didn't know what they were exactly, but he knew they weren't good. They weren't good at all. He took a deep breath when he saw his opening. He was ready to land his strike but never got to it. He forgot to breathe as a black snake launched toward him from the door. It opened its mouth. Its slender tongue danced as its red eyes flashed. Lee leaned toward the left to dodge out of the way. He didn't need. An ashy arm erupted from his chest and gripped the snake by its neck. The arm crushed the snake, rendering it back to black goo that splattered loudly as it hit the carpet. Lee didn't celebrate the defeat of the snake. He panted and looked down at his arm. Another arm, an equally ashy arm, was ripping through his flesh and welcoming itself to the world. He gasped in horror when he felt a third arm coming out of his back. He stopped breathing when the arms wiggled and moved out of their own wills. Lee loosened his grip on the axe and it fell to the floor. It hurt his insides when the arms moved.

"Lee!" Hinata screamed. It was the loudest Lee had ever heard her spoke. "It… it-it is… here!"

Lee didn't need to ask what 'it' was. He kept his eyes wide open and swallowed the odd pain of having extra appendages. The sparks hissed. A monstrous, animal-like arm with claws pushed through one of the gaps. It broke wide open the hole. Its other arm appeared. Lee wanted to move away but his legs weren't responding. He stared at the demon with a blank face. The demon snarled and made a sound that resembled a chuckling. It crawled into Lee's apartment on its hands and knees. Lee didn't quite know how to describe his uninvited guest. He understood now what Iruka meant when he said 'it wasn't his sister anymore'. The creature in front of him was drenched in black goo and had a human-like heads. Its disproportionally large limbs weren't in the right places, and its head was on upside down. Its tongue, freakishly long, licked at the dead snake goo on the floor. When it stood up straight, it stood on its hand and a foot that bent at an awkward angle. Its hair dripped constantly. Its eyes were amber that flicked on and off like the damn hallway light. It crackled. Lee shivered. It took a step toward Lee. With its arm and leg at different height, it leaned toward its left as it walked.

Lee staggered backward. His foot hit the axe. He bent down to pick it up but the ashy arm on his arm got to it first. It clutched the axe and threw it toward the demon. The axe hit it in the side of its head but it didn't stop it from advancing. The arm in his chest pulled Lee toward the demon. Lee yelped as the arm swapped at the demon like it was an obnoxious fly. The demon brought its hand up and gripped the ashy arm. It ripped it clean out of Lee's chest. Lee twitched; he felt like it was his own arm that had been ripped off. He gagged and clutched his chest. There was really an empty hole there. He looked down and could see his part of his exposed ribcage. He even saw the corner of his heart pumping blood to the rest of his body. He bent forward; the arm on his back was trying to attack. It suffered the same fate.

"Ahhhhhggahh!" Lee cried. He fell on his knees. He held his chest to stop the blood flow. He felt his back damped with blood. He lifted his glance up at the demon. It showed its white fangs. Lee followed its hand to his arm. The extra limb struggled frantically but hopelessly. The demon amputated the ashy arm with one pull. Lee tossed his head up and screamed, "AAAAAAHHHH!"

He fell flat on the floor. The goo snakes slithered toward him. He could tell they were hungry by the look in their fiery eyes. The snakes climbed all around him. They tickled Lee with their saliva-filled tongues. He lied in a puddle of his own blood. One snake drilled itself into the wound on his back. He squelched when he felt the snake slipped inside him. His fingers twitched erratically as he felt the snaked moved beneath his skin. A few other snakes followed the lead and entered Lee's body through his wounds. Black goo oozed from his mouth. He felt something coming out of his eyes and thought it was tears. It was tears, only that it was black and gooey. He couldn't see anymore as the black goo obscured his sight. He let out a muffled yelp when the demon dug its claws into his flesh and lifted him off the ground. He blinked and managed to get some of the goo out of his eye socket. He saw the demon face-to-face. It widened its mouth. Its tongue ruffled through his hair. Lee didn't want to be eaten and he was, in a way, glad that he wasn't. He barely made a sound when the demon clawed open his stomach. He could feel his intestines spilling out and hitting the floor in a bloody pile. He felt it tugged at his stomach and his lungs. He was thankful that the pain didn't last too long. The demon reached up and slashed his throat in one clean move. Lee went limp. Blood purged itself from his body. He tasted blood and goo. His sight went white and all sensations left his mind. The demon dropped him and he felt himself hitting the carpet hard.

"I am sorry," Lee wordlessly said. "I am sorry…"

**The End.**

**--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---**

**Boyue's Note: And voila! This story is over. Do you all hate me for what I did to Lee? It's okay. I hate me too. Is this the ending? No, I wouldn't say so. I think I've left it open-ended. Is Lee really gone? What happened to Tenten? Is the demon on the loose now? What's the deal with Naruto? What's Iruka's problem? What's up with all of your plotholes? These are questions that you will ponder… or not. If I get reviews that want me to expand on the ending… I just might… :coughcough: … or not. O.o;;**

**Otherwise, thank you very much for reading this story! I appreciate each and every of your reviews. They filled with fluffy joy. I hope you will read more of my works in the future. Thank you again! =)**

**01.16.09**

**6:45 PM**


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